A Time To Kill
by Tyger Magick
Summary: Connor is back in town because of an immortal he swore to kill almost four hundred years ago. Sequel To The Stray. Now Complete!!
1. The Gift

AN: Okay guys here's the first part. Tell me what you think.  
  
Dri walked in the door of their apartment and set her back pack down by the door. Mac had rented a three bedroom until the dojo was finished being remodeled. Dri had decided it would be best for her to finish out her last year of highschool.  
  
Before everything had happened she's been a decent student. A's, B's, C's, all that good stuff. She had inquired about it with Duncan and he had no problem with it. In fact he encouraged it thinking it was best for her to graduate.  
  
Dri walked into the kitchen, got a drink and sat down at the counter. Richie and Mac were probably out doing something. They normally weren't home when she got there. She laid her head down on the counter and sighed.  
  
Her legs and arms were sore from the extensive training Mac and Richie had been putting her through. Mac had asked her if she wanted to continue the training her father had been so proud of. How could she refuse? So she went to school, ate, trained and did homework. That was the extent of her day.  
  
It wasn't that she didn't like it. In fact she loved it. She had missed the feeling of sparring, of meditating, of excersizing. It was a great feeling when adrenaline pumped through your body and your heart pounded.  
  
"Long day?" Duncan said behind her.  
  
She jumped up and turned around. Mac and Richie were standing there both with their hands behind their backs.  
  
"You guys scared me!" She exclaimed.  
  
They both smiled that smile that Dri had come to know when they were planning something.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Well Mac and I were thinking and.." He trailed off.  
  
"And you've been working really hard in school as well as your training," Mac continued.  
  
She raised an eyebrow. "What are you two getting at?"  
  
The two men exchanged a glance and then Richie pulled a long, thin box out from behind his back.  
  
"What is that?"  
  
Duncan laughed. "Well why don't you open it and find out?"  
  
Dri got up and walked over to them, eyeing the suspiciously. Richie handed her the box and she just looked at it.  
  
"It's okay," Richie told her. "Open it."  
  
It wasn't that she didn't want to. She just felt weird about getting gifts from them. Slowly she lifted the top off the box. Her jaw dropped when she saw what was inside.  
  
It was a sword, almost identical to Duncans. The only difference was the dragon on the hilt was a soft blue color. She had expressed her liking of the Highlanders sword the first time she laid eyes on it. Mac and Riche hadn't forgot.  
  
"I can't except this," She finally said.  
  
"Of course you can," Richie told her. "We want you to have it."  
  
She shook her head and put the top back on the box.  
  
"This is way to expensive."  
  
"Dri you've come a long way in school and in training. We've noticed your love for swords and we want you to have it."  
  
They left out the fact that eventually she would need to have it.  
  
"Come on Dri," Richie said. "You don't want to make us feel bad."  
  
She sighed. "Thank you."  
  
"There are a couple of rules however. The only time you can use it is when Richie and I are with you. It does not leave the apartment except for when we take you to the ware house to train. When we go back to the dojo and begin training there again it does not leave it at all. It's not a toy. It is a dangerous weapon."  
  
"I know, I know." Her face lit up. "So when do we start training?"  
  
Richie laughed.  
  
"Not today," Duncan said.  
  
"Why not?" Dri asked almost angrily.  
  
Duncan crossed his arms. "You've been overdoing it. You're exhausting yourself."  
  
"I am not!"  
  
"Then why are their dark circles under your eyes? Not to mention the fact a few of your teachers have called complaining about you falling asleep in class."  
  
Her face fell. "Oh you know about that."  
  
"Yeah, I know. What I don't understand is why you didn't say anything."  
  
Dri shrugged. She took the box with her over to the couch and sat down.  
  
"I can handle it."  
  
Mac went and saw next to her. "If you could handle it you wouldn't be so tired."  
  
"If you knew I was falling asleep in class then why did you give me the sword?"  
  
"Because you do deserve it. You've been working hard, not just at school or the dojo, but here too. You have the house spotless by the time we come home."  
  
"Yeah I've never lived somewhere so clean." Richie chimed in.  
  
"You just need to slow down a little," Mac told her. "Don't do so much all the time. I'm going to cut your training back to three days a week."  
  
"NO WAY!" She exclaimed.  
  
"Yes way. We'll boost you back up when I think you can handle it."  
  
She threw herself backwards and crossed her arms. "Whatever."  
  
"Why does she remind me of you?" Mac asked Richie.  
  
"Hey! I resemble that remark."  
  
Duncan laughed. "I bet you do."  
  
Dri wasn't laughing. She was sulking.  
  
"Come on Dri," Richie said. "It's not so bad. Just get some rest and stay awake in school and things will go back to normal."  
  
"Since you guys think I need to get rest so damn much, I'm going to go to my room."  
  
She got up and stormed off to room.  
  
"That went well huh Mac."  
  
"Oh yeah, it went perfectly," He replied as her bedroom door slammed.  
  
Richie walked over and plopped down next to Duncan.  
  
"Teenagers."  
  
"Yeah, you're one to talk," Mac said.  
  
Richie looked at him innocently. "Mac, I'm hurt by that."  
  
"Yeah I'm so sure."  
  
The two men laughed and relaxed on the couch. Just as they got comfortable they sat up. Another immortal was near. Very near.  
  
"Expecting someone?" Richie asked.  
  
"Nope, you?"  
  
"Nope."  
  
The two men got up and drew their swords just as their was a knock on the door.  
  
TBC..Please REVIEW!!! 


	2. An Old Friend

AN: Okay I changed the rating to PG13 for now, but it might go back up to R later. We'll see. TTFN  
  
Duncan walked over to the door and placed the sword behind him. Richie stood on the opposite side. The Highlander nodded to him and he opened the door. A very familiar face was standing in the hall.  
  
"Nice to see you too Duncan."  
  
"Conner! What are you doing here?"  
  
"I was in the neighborhood and I thought I'd stop by." He walked in and he and Duncan embraced each other.  
  
Mac clapped him on the back and pulled away. "How have you been?"  
  
"I've kept my head," Conner replied. "And I see you kept the boy."  
  
He turned and looked at Richie.  
  
"Hi Conner."  
  
"How're you doing Richie?"  
  
"Good, thanks."  
  
The three men stood in front of the door way.  
  
"Come in, Conner, sit down."  
  
The three men walked into the living room. Conner and Duncan sat on the couch while Richie took the recliner.  
  
"How did you know we were here?" Mac asked.  
  
"Forwarding address. It wasn't that difficult. Doing renovations I see."  
  
"Yeah, well things have changed since you've been gone."  
  
Conner raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"  
  
"You have no idea," Richie said.  
  
As if on cue Dri walked out of the bedroom.  
  
"Don't worry," She said not even looking at them. "I'm just getting a drink. Then I'll go right back to 'resting'."  
  
No one said anything. Conner just stared. Dri walked to the fridge and pulled out a coke. She turned around, started walking to her room and stopped. She turned her head to face them.  
  
"Who are you?" She asked rather rudely.  
  
Conner looked at Duncan and then back to Dri.  
  
"My name is Conner MacLeod. Who are you?"  
  
"Dri Carver." She took a few steps towards them. "Are you related to Duncan?"  
  
"Same clan, different vintage," He smiled.  
  
"So is that a yes or no?"  
  
"Dri," Duncan warned. "Drop the attitude."  
  
She shook her head. "Forget I asked anything. Since you guys are having a pow wow or whatever can I go to the park to do my homework?"  
  
"No, you can do your homework in your room."  
  
"Mac," She whined.  
  
"When you start staying awake in class then you can go back to the park to do your work, until then it's done here."  
  
"Fine," She said stomping over to the door. She grabbed her book bag and walked back to her room, slamming the door behind her.  
  
Conner looked at Duncan. "Teenagers."  
  
"Tell me about it."  
  
"Okay," Richie said. "Since you two obviously have a lot of catching up to do I'm going to go run some errands."  
  
"All right Richie. Are you going to be at the warehouse to train tonight?"  
  
He nodded. "Yeah I'll be there."  
  
"All right," Mac said. "I'll see you later."  
  
Richie walked over to the door and grabbed his coat. "See you guys later."  
  
"Bye," Mac and Conner said in unison.  
  
After Richie left Conner turned back to Mac.  
  
"So where did you find the girl?"  
  
"She stole my lunch and I chased after her."  
  
"What is it with you and taking in kids who steal from you?"  
  
"I have a bleeding heart."  
  
"Right."  
  
"So what's her story?"  
  
"It's a long one."  
  
"Duncan, we have 'plenty' of time."  
  
Mac laughed. "I suppose we do."  
  
Duncan spent the next twenty minutes explaining what he knew of Dri's history.  
  
"The kids had it rough," Conner said when he finished. "But hows she doing now?"  
  
"She was doing great up until a week ago."  
  
"What happened?"  
  
Mac shrugged. "I don't know. All of a sudden her attitude starting changing. She seemed to be mad at the world."  
  
Conner was about to respond when the phone rang. Mac leaned over the couch and picked it up.  
  
"Hello. Yes, no. Can't you handle it? Fine I'm on my way." He hung up the phone and turned to Conner.  
  
"I hate to leave you so soon, but there's a problem with an immortal. Joe wants to talk to me about it."  
  
"Not a problem Duncan."  
  
"I'll be right back. I just want to tell Dri I'm leaving."  
  
Conner nodded and stood up, while Duncan walked over to Dri's room. He knocked on the door and there was no answer.  
  
"Dri?"  
  
Still no answer.  
  
"Dri, I'm coming in."  
  
He opened the door. Her room was empty and her window was opened.  
  
"Dammit," He yelled coming out of the room.  
  
"What is it?" Conner asked.  
  
"She's gone out the window. I should have known it was coming."  
  
"She has a habit of running away?"  
  
"Dri didn't run away. She has a thing for climbing down fire escapes."  
  
"I don't get it." Conner replied perplexed.  
  
"Don't worry about it. I know where she is."  
  
"Then what's the problem?"  
  
"Joe said that this was urgent. He doesn't say that unless it's something very bad."  
  
"Calm down Duncan. You go talk to Joe. Tell me where the girl is and I'll get her."  
  
Duncan shook his head. "No Conner. I'm not going to impose on you like that. Besides she's..touchy."  
  
Conner walked over and put a hand on Macs shoulder.  
  
"It's not an imposition and besides I've been around longer than you. I raised a girl before if you recall. Remember Rachel?"  
  
"I know Conner, but Rachel is a lot different than Dri."  
  
"Duncan you told me already. Now trust me to handle it."  
  
Mac smiled. "All right, she's probably at the park sitting by the lake. I shouldn't be long. I'll meet you back here."  
  
The two men nodded at each other and left the apartment.  
  
TBC..Please Review 


	3. An Old Enemy

AN: It has come to my attention that I was spelling Connors name wrong. DOH! But I have made the correction. This chapter is kind of short, sorry about that. Anyways thanks for the reviews and support. Keep em coming.  
  
MacLeod pulled up to Joe's bar and went inside. It was around four in the afternoon, so there weren't many people inside. Just a few regulars eating lunch or your occasional alcoholic who didn't want to face the day.  
  
He walked up to the bar where Charlie, the day bartender was standing, polishing a few glasses with a towel. Charlie was a hefty man with a large square face and blue eyes. A cigarette was hanging to the tip of his lip. He was wearing a white t-shirt and blue jeans.  
  
"Hey Charlie, how are you?"  
  
"Pretty good Mac. How about you?"  
  
"I'm well."  
  
"And the girl and Richie?"  
  
"There both fine. Thanks for asking. Joe in his office?"  
  
"Yeah Mac. Go on up. He's expecting you."  
  
"Thanks. I'll see you later."  
  
Duncan walked up the stairs and went down the dark hall that led to Joe's office. He knocked on the door.  
  
"Come in," Joe said. His voice was muffled through the door.  
  
Mac walked in to the secluded twilight of the office. He walked over to the chairs in front of the desk and sat down.  
  
"So what's this all about?"  
  
"Nice to see you too Mac."  
  
"Joe if this was a social call I'd be more than happy to make small talk, but since I know it isn't I want to get down to business."  
  
He left out the part that he wanted to get back to see Dri as soon as possible.  
  
"You're in a rush."  
  
"I do have a life and a teenager."  
  
Joe laughed and then his face sobered. "What do you know about Jason McDaniels?"  
  
Scotland~~  
  
Duncan was bathing in the river when he felt the presence of another immortal. He quickly got out and threw on his kilt. He grabbed his sword and threw his long wet hair out of his face. Water dripped down his bare chest and back making him gleam in the sunlight.  
  
"You haven't the need for that," Connor said walking through the trees.  
  
"Connor MacLeod," Duncan said smiling. He put down his sword and walked over to the other man. They shook hands both still smiling, but Connors smile had a spark of sadness in it.  
  
"What are you doing here?" Mac asked.  
  
"Tracking."  
  
"Tracking what?" He raised an eyebrow. "Or should I say who?"  
  
Connor sighed. "Jason McDaniels."  
  
"Never heard of him."  
  
"Not many have. Those who have wish they hadn't." Connor said walking towards the river.  
  
"Well who is he?" MacLeod asked following him.  
  
"Have you heard of the young women being raped in a few of the villages along the country side?"  
  
"Oh no, Connor. Tell me you're joking. He's immortal?"  
  
"I wish I was, and yes he's immortal. He also made the mistake of raping and murdering the daughter of Michael O'Reily. Michael went after him of course, but he was no match for McDaniels."  
  
"Ah Connor I'm sorry, but you've never been one for vengeance."  
  
"I found Michael before he passed on. He made me promise to find McDaniels. I couldn't say no Duncan. Besides I may not be one for vengeance, but I'm not one for murderers either."  
  
Present  
  
"I've never met him, but I know who he is."  
  
"Yeah, well you might get a crash course in meeting him because he's here."  
  
Duncan sat up in his chair. "The person who's been raping and murdering teenage girls."  
  
It was more of a statement than a question.  
  
"You got it Mac."  
  
Duncan knew there was a reason for Connor being back in town. They just hadn't had a chance to talk about it in all the excitement.  
  
"MacLeod he's got to be stopped," Joe said.  
  
"Don't worry Joe. It's already being handled," He replied.  
  
He got up and walked out, leaving Joe in the soft glow of his office. He had to get back and talk to Connor. He also had to make sure Dri was all right. If this really was McDaniels and Connor was here that meant the bastard was close. He didn't want Dri to get caught in the middle of this. She had already been through a lot.  
  
TBC.Please Review 


	4. A Walk In The Park

AN: Hey guys here's the next part. Longer than the last one. Please review.  
  
Connor walked into the park. The lake was in the center of it. There were a few trees around it. As he walked closer he felt the presence of an immortal.  
  
"That can't be Dri," He thought. "It's too strong."  
  
He walked closer to the lake keeping his hand on his sword under his coat. Connor didn't think he would honestly need it. There were a lot of people in the park, but just in case.  
  
He looked over to the left of him and saw Dri sitting under a tree. She had on a set of headphones and a journal in her lap. She was leaning against the tree pen poised in hand, writing as quickly as she can.  
  
Connor walked over and kneeled next to her. She raised her head slowly to look at him. She sighed and pulled off her headphones.  
  
"What are you doing here?" She asked.  
  
"I came to find you."  
  
"Where's Duncan," She asked almost disappointed.  
  
"Something urgent came up."  
  
"Whatever."  
  
"What are you writing?" Connor asked trying to change the subject.  
  
Dri snapped the book shut. "None of your business."  
  
Connor sat down next to her. "Duncan was going to come you know."  
  
"I'm so sure."  
  
"He cares about you."  
  
She leaned her head against the tree, but didn't say anything. Connor opened his mouth to say something when he felt the energy of another immortal. It couldn't be Duncan and Richie didn't even know they were here. He just hoped it wasn't who he thought it was.  
  
"Put your things in your bag. We need to go now." He said almost urgently.  
  
"What's going on?" She asked.  
  
"Just do as I say."  
  
"All right, geez," She replied as she started putting her things away.  
  
"Hurry," Connor told her.  
  
She looked up at him. "There's another immortal around isn't there."  
  
"Come on," He said ignoring her question and helping her up.  
  
They started walking across the park. A man appeared as if out of no where and blocked there path. He had short, strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes. He was wearing black jeans and a red shirt. A black leather trench coat, with silver buckles was over it all.  
  
"Hello MacLeod." He said in a deep voice that didn't quite fit his face.  
  
"Jason," Connor acknowledged.  
  
"Some how I knew you'd be in town." His gaze diverted to Dri. "Who is this beautiful young woman with you."  
  
He reached out a hand towards her hair. Connor put an arm around her and pulled her out of reach. He felt her tense, but she didn't pull away. Smart kid.  
  
"She's none of your concern."  
  
Dri hadn't say anything. She just watched the two men talk. She was stubborn not stupid and getting involved in this conversation was stupid. She could feel the hatred in their words, see it in their eyes. The anger was so thick you could walk on it.  
  
The two men stared each other down. Dri was getting sick of this.  
  
"Connor who is this creep?" She asked, breaking the silence.  
  
Jason smiled. "Attitude, I like that."  
  
Dri didn't like the way he said that.  
  
"Go wait for me by the benches," Connor told her.  
  
"Connor!" She exclaimed.  
  
"GO!" He half yelled.  
  
"Whatever," Dri replied walking away.  
  
Connor watched as McDaniels gaze followed her.  
  
"Don't even think about it."  
  
Jason reverted his gaze to Connor.  
  
"She's quite exquisite. How can I resist such beauty?"  
  
"She's a child," The Highlander seethed. "You and I will have our time. She stays out of this."  
  
"I can't promise that Connor."  
  
"Let's go someplace private and I'll make you promise."  
  
McDaniels laughed. "You were right Connor. We will have our time, but I will decide when and it will be on my terms."  
  
He glanced over at Dri and blew her a kiss. Connor clenched his fists. Dri simply glared back. Jason threw another smile at Connor.  
  
"I'll be in touch," He said as he walked away.  
  
"I'm looking forward to it." Connor replied as Dri walked up to him.  
  
"What the hell was that all about?" She asked.  
  
Connor looked down at her. "Nothing, let's go. Duncan will be waiting for us."  
  
He went to put an arm around her shoulder but she moved away.  
  
"I let you do that once before for show. I didn't want that guy touching me, but don't expect to be able to do it again."  
  
Connor looked at her. In some ways he didn't understand her. He knew she was training with Duncan and Richie. She'd probably even walked away with a bruise or two and she was okay with that. Yet if anyone went to show her affection it seemed to be a threat to her.  
  
"Sorry I didn't mean.."  
  
"Don't worry about it," She cut him off. "Let's just go back to the apartment so Mac can yell at me."  
  
"Are you so sure he'll yell?" Connor asked as they started walking.  
  
She shrugged as an answer.  
  
"He's just worried. He cares about you. So does Richie."  
  
"You may be Mac's Clansman or whatever but you should still mind your own damn business!" She said angrily.  
  
"All right we won't talk about it anymore."  
  
She looked up at him. "Why do I think you're going to talk about something else?"  
  
Connor smiled. "You know I raised a girl myself a long time ago. Her parents were killed in a war."  
  
"Sucks to be her."  
  
Connor ignored her. "I remember she was happy when I first took her in. Then a few years later when she was older, she became angry and no matter what I did I couldn't get her to tell me why."  
  
"Is there a point to this?" Dri asked tiredly.  
  
Connor laughed. "I asked her over and over and over, but she wouldn't tell me."  
  
"She probably had good reason."  
  
"One day," He continued. "I found her crying in her room. She finally admitted that she was angry at everything that happened. Angry that her parents had been killed, but mostly she was angry that she had lived. I didn't understand what had brought it on until she told me it was her fathers birthday."  
  
Dri stopped walking. Conner took an extra step and turned to look at her.  
  
"What are you getting at? You think I'm going to tell you what's wrong because of a story about you and some orphan girl." She spat. "Don't think that I'm the same as her. I'm not!"  
  
"No," Connor replied calmly. "You're not, but the same anger burns inside you and if you don't let it out it will eat you alive."  
  
Dri glared at him, but she couldn't think of anything to say. So, she didn't say anything and started walking again. Connor walked next to her but didn't say anything. There was nothing but silence the rest of the way home.  
  
TBC..Please Review!! 


	5. Trouble In Paradise

AN: Hey guys thanks for the reviews!! Here's the next part!!!  
  
Connor and Dri walked into the apartment to find Richie sitting on the couch watching TV. He turned his head when they shut the door.  
  
"Hey guys," He said.  
  
"I thought you were out running errands," Connor said.  
  
"They didn't take as long as I'd thought."  
  
"Where's Mac?" Dri asked.  
  
"He's in the bedroom changing. He spilled a drink on his shirt. He didn't seem too happy."  
  
"Oh this is going to be so much fun," She said sarcastically as she threw down her bag.  
  
"You have no idea," Duncan said coming out of the bedroom. "What the hell are you thinking? You left 'AGAIN' without telling Richie or me! Do you know there is a murdered on the lose! What if he got a hold of you?"  
  
Dri looked up at Connor. "See I told you he'd yell."  
  
"Dri I just don't understand," Mac said a little calmer. "You were fine a week ago. You were doing so well. In school and training you still are, but all of a sudden you're so angry and you've started sneaking out again. What's going on? Talk to me!"  
  
Dri stood there dumbfounded. She had expected him to be enraged, but he actually seemed worried. That she hadn't expected. The look in his eyes almost seemed like he was hurt.  
  
"Look I'm sorry." She finally replied. "I don't mean to be the bitch I'm acting like, but I need to get through this myself."  
  
"Dammit Dri!" He yelled. "You don't have to do everything yourself! Let us help you!"  
  
"Duncan calm down," Connor said.  
  
"No Connor," He exclaimed still yelling. "She can't keep doing this!"  
  
"Please Mac," Dri exclaimed. "Leave it alone."  
  
"I've left it alone long enough!"  
  
Richie was off the couch and next to Dri. "Mac take it easy!"  
  
"You need to talk Dri or yell or scream or something! I can't stand to see you this angry all the time!"  
  
She walked past him and Mac grabbed her wrist.  
  
"Let go of me!"  
  
"Not until you tell me what's going on!"  
  
Richie and Connor were next to Mac. Connor had a hand on his shoulder.  
  
"Duncan let her go," He said.  
  
"Come on Mac," Richie agreed. "You're scaring her."  
  
Duncan and Dri glared at each other. Dri tried to keep the fear out of her eyes, but Mac saw it and he realized he was frightening her. He hadn't meant to do that. He gradually let go of her wrist.  
  
Dri kept her eyes on him as she backed up.  
  
"I'm sorry Dri. I didn't mean to scare you, but you can't keep doing this," He said in a pleading voice.  
  
She didn't say anything. She just turned and walked into her room.  
  
"Keep the door open," Mac said as she started to close it.  
  
Dri glared at him from the doorway, but she did as she was told. Then she walked back out of sight from the living room.  
  
"Duncan," Connor said. "I know you have other things on your mind, but we need to talk."  
  
"About Jason McDaniels," The younger clansman replied.  
  
"Yes, about Jason McDaniels. I ran into him when I went to get Dri."  
  
"Who's Jason McDaniels?" Richie asked.  
  
"What happened?" Mac asked unintentionally ignoring Richie.  
  
"He saw the girl."  
  
"Who's Jason McDaniels?"  
  
"Tell me you're joking Connor."  
  
"You have to get her someplace safe. I don't want McDaniels near her."  
  
"Hey guys," Richie half yelled. "Who the hell is Jason McDaniels?"  
  
Mac looked at him. "He's an immortal who takes pleasure in raping and murdering young girls."  
  
Richie's eyes widened. "And this guy wants Dri?"  
  
"It seems that way," Connor told him.  
  
"Well we have to do something," Richie exclaimed.  
  
"Relax. She's here and this is the safest place for her," Mac said. "McDaniels won't be able to touch her."  
  
"So what do we do now?" Richie asked.  
  
"Nothing," Connor replied. "For now. Jason will find a way to contact me when he wants to."  
  
"In the meantime Dri doesn't leave without one of us with her," Mac said. "I don't McDaniels getting anywhere near her."  
  
"Then maybe we should nail her window shut so she can't go out the fire escape," Richie joked.  
  
Duncan smiled.  
  
"I still don't get it," Connor said.  
  
"I'll explain while I make us something to eat," Mac said.  
  
The three of them walked to the kitchen. After explaining to Connor about Dri's fire escape fetish Connor and Richie sat at the table with a plate of food. Mac sat his down at the table and took another plate to Dri's room. He knocked lightly on the door even though it was already open.  
  
"Dri, I've brought you something to eat."  
  
Mac went into the room to find Dri fast asleep on her bed. She was on her stomach with her face turned away from him. Her arms were under the pillow that her long red hair spilled over.  
  
Mac smiled at the sight. She looked so innocent sleeping like that. He put the plate on her dresser and walked over to the bed. He took the baby blue fleece quilt that was folded at the end of the bed and covered her with it. Dri's turned her head to look at him with sleepy eyes.  
  
"I'm sorry," She whispered in a half sleep state.  
  
"Shhh, it's all right," Duncan replied. "Go back to sleep. You need your rest."  
  
Dri yawned and closed her eyes. It only took a second or two for her to fall back asleep. Mac walked back over to the dresser and picked up the plate. He turned and took one last look at her before he walked out of the room.  
  
"Is she okay?" Richie asked as Mac sat down.  
  
"Yeah, she's sleeping." He started eating his food. "Where are you staying tonight Connor?" He asked between bites.  
  
"I'll get a hotel room."  
  
"Why don't you just stay with us?" Richie asked. "I can take the couch."  
  
Connor shook his head. "No, I don't want to jeopardize the girl anymore than I already have."  
  
"Even if you go to a hotel McDaniels will be looking for Dri," Duncan said. "We'd have a better chance with all of us here."  
  
"I shouldn't have come here," Connor resigned. "The girl is in danger because of me."  
  
"At least we can protect her," Richie said. "What about all the other girls who have no one to save them from this creep?"  
  
Connor looked at Duncan.  
  
"Don't look at me. The kids got a point."  
  
"Smart ass," The elder MacLeod stated. "Fine, I'll stay the night, but I'll take the couch."  
  
"Fine with me," Richie replied. "I like my bed."  
  
"Then it's settled," Mac said. He looked over at Connor. "It is good to see you old friend."  
  
"As it is you, Duncan. As it is you."  
  
TBC.Please Review 


	6. Nightmares and Revelations

AN: Okay thanks for the reviews!! You guys are the greatest. Here's where things start getting a little.complicated.  
  
Everyone was sleeping except for Connor. He was lying on the couch staring at the ceiling. He had a lot on his mind. McDaniels was one, but that was only a small portion of the thoughts racing through his head. Most of his focus was on the young girl sleeping in the bedroom down the hall.  
  
Connor was curious to know why she was so angry as much as anyone else, but his main question was why she felt so strong when she wasn't an immortal yet. He had never felt a pre immortal with so much power.  
  
Connor was contemplating this when he heard a small moan come from Dri's room. Duncan had only closed her door partially, and the walls made almost any noise echo.  
  
The Highlander got up and walked over to her room. He stepped just inside the door. It was dark except for a few strands of moonlight that came through the window.  
  
Dri was in a tight ball on the edge of the bed. It she rolled over she would fall off, probably knocking her head on the bed side table as she did so. That would not be a good thing.  
  
She moaned again and Connor watched as she squeezed her eyes tight. Her whole body was tense. She was mumbling something, but Connor couldn't make out what.  
  
He walked over and kneeled beside her. He began gently stroking her hair. It was something he had done with Rachel when she was little and would have nightmares. She had often had them about the war and stroking her hair seemed to sooth her.  
  
"No," She said in a shaky voice.  
  
"It's all right," Connor soothed.  
  
Dri jerked from his touch and started flailing her body around. She knocked the quilt that Duncan had put on her to the floor. Her head came very close to hitting the bedside table, but Connor put his hand in the way so her skill hit his palm.  
  
"RICHIE!" She screamed. "MAC!"  
  
Connor was trying to pin her down so she wouldn't hurt herself.  
  
"RICHIE!" She yelled again.  
  
Richie ran into the room. Dri was fighting against Connors grip. Mac came up behind Richie.  
  
"A little help here," Connor said.  
  
Mac ran in and grabbed her legs.  
  
"NO!" She cried.  
  
Richie kneeled next to her. Her head was still turning back and forth while she tried to break their grips.  
  
"Dri, it's all right. It's Richie."  
  
The sound of his voice calmed her a little.  
  
"It's all right, I'm here. So is Mac."  
  
She relaxed more and stopped fighting so hard against Connor and Duncan.  
  
Richie started petting her head.  
  
"Wake up Dri."  
  
She moaned.  
  
"Come on sweetie, wake up."  
  
"Hurts," She mumbled.  
  
"It's just a dream," Richie told her. "Wake up."  
  
She slowly opened her eyes and stared at them all wide eyed. She looked around and took in her surroundings.  
  
"Let go of me!"  
  
Mac nodded to Connor and they let her go. She jumped out of bed and ran into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. The three men could here her heaving and retching through the door.  
  
Richie went to the linen closet and got a wash cloth. He walked to the bathroom and knocked on the door.  
  
"Dri, its Richie. Can I come in?"  
  
"Yeah," She replied tiredly.  
  
Richie opened the door just as the toilet flushed. He walked over to the sink and wet down the wash cloth with cool water. He kneeled beside Dri who was leaning with her back against the tub.  
  
Richie started wiping down her face. Dri didn't protest. The cool water felt good against her flushed skin."  
  
"Better?" He asked.  
  
She nodded.  
  
"Want to tell me about it?"  
  
She shook her head.  
  
"You never do," Richie said.  
  
Dri leaned her head against the top edge of the tub so that she was looking at the ceiling. Richie took the now warm cloth and re wet it. He never pressed Dri to talk. People had done that to him when he was a kid and it always made him close up more. Dri would talk when she was ready. He wasn't going to force her.  
  
Mac and Connor were watching from the door. Once Mac was satisfied that Dri was all right he and Connor went into the kitchen.  
  
"Is this an every night occurrence?" Connor asked.  
  
Mac started a pot of coffee. "It used to be. She had nightmares all the time when she first started staying with us."  
  
"She doesn't have them as much now?"  
  
"No. From what I can tell as she started becoming more comfortable here the less the nightmares would occur. She has them maybe two or three times a week, but not this bad. She hasn't had one like this in a while now."  
  
"She doesn't tell you what she dreams?"  
  
Duncan shook his head. "She'll call out for Richie or me, sometimes the both of us, but as soon as she wakes up she closes up."  
  
"Do you think the nightmares have anything to do with why she's so angry?"  
  
Mac handed Connor a cup of coffee. "Possibly, but with Dri you can never tell."  
  
Dri and Richie walked out of the bathroom and over to the kitchen.  
  
"How are you feeling?" Mac asked her.  
  
"I'll live," She replied dryly. "Can I have a glass of water?"  
  
"Sure," Mac said getting it for her.  
  
Dri walked over and sat at the table. She leaned her forehead on the cool, wood surface. Duncan walked over and put the water in front of her.  
  
"I can't do this anymore," She whispered.  
  
"Do what?" Mac asked sitting across from her.  
  
Dri lifted her head slowly and sipped the water.  
  
"I'm sick of these stupid nightmares. They're driving me insane." She stood up and started pacing.  
  
"It might help if you talk about it," Mac told her.  
  
She stopped pacing and faced the wall so that her back was to everyone.  
  
"Talking doesn't do anything. It's a cheap way of pretending to solve problems." She was clenching and unclenching her fists.  
  
Duncan was about to argue when Dri slammed her fist through the wall. All three men were instantly at her side.  
  
Dri had pulled her hand out and it was covered in blood. Mac and Connor helped her to the table while Richie got the first aid kit.  
  
"Jesus Dri!" Mac exclaimed.  
  
She didn't say anything. The sharp pain began in her hand and radiated through her arm. To Dri it felt wonderful.  
  
"What the hell is going on in that head of yours?" Duncan asked.  
  
Richie came back and handed the kit to Mac who in turn started cleaning her up. The blood was coming from a large gash on the back of her hand.  
  
"This is probably going to hurt," Mac told her.  
  
Mac took an alcohol swab to the gash. Dri tensed and she cried out a little.  
  
"I'll pay for the wall," She said once the initial pain passed.  
  
"Don't worry about it," He told her. "I don't care about the wall. I just want to know why you did that."  
  
Dri shrugged. "Call it teenage hormones."  
  
"Dri," Duncan said in a warning voice.  
  
"It felt good all right!"  
  
Mac held up her hand. "This felt good?"  
  
"Yes! Physical pain eases the emotional."  
  
From that one statement Duncan and Connor suddenly understood why training didn't bother her and affection did.  
  
TBC.Please review!! 


	7. Untold Secrets

AN: Hey this is a short chapter, but a few things happen I hope you guys are going to like. Anyways this is the last time I'll be posting until atleast Sunday night. I have to go out of town and there is no internet connection POOH! Oh well it gives you guys time to review!! LOL  
  
"Dri, this can't go on," Duncan told her.  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about," She replied.  
  
"Don't get cute."  
  
She smiled innocently.  
  
After Mac had finished wrapping her hand she had gone back into her room. Mac followed. He wasn't going to let this go. He couldn't. Not when she was hurting herself like this.  
  
Dri was currently lying on her bed staring at the ceiling as if it was the first time she'd ever seen it. Duncan was standing next to the bed staring at her.  
  
"You're hurting yourself and I think I know why," He said sitting on the edge of the bed.  
  
"Mac come on, it's not as though I'm cutting myself or anything. I just was angry and the wall happened to be there. If you had been standing in front of me I would have hit you and my hand would probably look the same."  
  
"I'm not indestructible. I just would have moved out of the way," He said with a hint of sarcasm.  
  
"That would have just pissed me off more," Dri replied still staring at the ceiling.  
  
Duncan sighed. "Why are you so angry? Tell me, please!"  
  
Dri's eyes looked towards Mac, but her eyed stayed where it was.  
  
"It won't change anything if I tell you."  
  
"How do you know unless you tell me?"  
  
She looked back at the ceiling. "Because I know all right!"  
  
"No, it's not all right," Duncan told her. "Look at what you're doing to yourself."  
  
"It's nothing I don't deserve," She mumbled.  
  
"What do you mean?" Mac asked.  
  
Dri sighed. She hadn't meant to say that out loud. "Nothing, I didn't mean that."  
  
"Dri," Duncan said in that voice that told her he knew she was lying.  
  
She closed her eyes tightly as if trying to push away some image.  
  
"Look Mac, there's a lot you don't know about me. There's a lot I want to tell you, but I'm not ready. I have to deal with this myself."  
  
"You don't always have to be strong."  
  
"Yes I do," Dri replied. "I won't let myself become susceptible again. Not to anyone."  
  
"You know what your problem is?"  
  
"No, but I bet your going to tell me," She replied dryly.  
  
"You're afraid."  
  
She looked over at Mac. "What are you talking about?"  
  
"You said it earlier. Physical pain eases the emotional. You can handle the physical pain, but you're afraid to face the pain that's inside."  
  
"Whatever."  
  
"That's why you want to train so much and why you push yourself until you're in pain."  
  
"Shut up Duncan."  
  
"That's why you spend hours upon hours in the dojo. So you can forget about everything in that head of yours."  
  
She was sat up. "Shut up!"  
  
"You won't let anyone get close to you. That way you can keep running from everything that's got you scared."  
  
Dri went to hit Duncan with her left hand, but he grabbed her wrist. She went to hit him with her right hand even though it was bandaged but he caught that to, so she reverted to her legs. Duncan grabbed her and pulled her into his arms holding her tightly in the fetal position so she couldn't move.  
  
She struggled in his arms, but he was too strong.  
  
"Let go of me you bastard!"  
  
"It's all right, Dri," Duncan told her. "Let it out."  
  
"I hate you!" She cried. "I hate you!"  
  
Mac held Dri tightly making sure she didn't hurt him or herself. She tried to hit him, but she couldn't. She tried to get free from his grip, but he was to strong. Her frustration levels were rising. Finally, she collapsed in his arms and started sobbing. For the first time since Duncan had met Dri, she was crying.  
  
"That's it sweet heart. Let it out."  
  
He loosened his grip knowing she wouldn't fight. Her wall had broken or at least cracked a little. Dri wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her head in his shoulder. Duncan held on to her and rubbed her back as the sobs shuddered through her body.  
  
"It's all right sweet heart. Everything's going to be all right."  
  
Dri continued to cry for about twenty minutes until her hysterics were reduced to silent tears and soft hiccups. Duncan was still rubbing small circles on her back and rocking her back and forth in his lap.  
  
"I hate this," She whispered, her face still buried in his shoulder.  
  
"What?" He asked.  
  
"Being weak."  
  
"Crying doesn't make you weak. Sometimes the body needs to cry as a release."  
  
"I promised myself a long time ago that I would never cry again no matter what. I broke that promise."  
  
"Why is that?" He pushed.  
  
"You don't want to know." She said between hiccups.  
  
"Yes, I do. This isn't something that can be let go."  
  
Dri sighed. "The last time I cried was when..." She trailed off.  
  
"Was when what?" Mac encouraged.  
  
She hiccupped, but didn't say anything.  
  
"Come on Dri. Tell me. When was the last time you cried? Why did you promise never to do it again?"  
  
Her body shuddered and she pulled back from him. She got off his lap and sat next to him. Duncan didn't protest.  
  
"Talk to me."  
  
She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She rested her chin on top of her knees.  
  
"When my brother died." Dri whispered. "The last time I cried was when my brother died."  
  
TBC. PLEASE REVIEW!!!! 


	8. Adrian

AN: Hey guys sorry it took so long to update. I didn't get back till Monday night. Anywho here's the enxt part.  
  
Duncan looked at Dri with wide eyes. Tears were streaming silently down her face. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying so much.  
  
"I never knew you had a brother."  
  
Dri shrugged. "Not many people do."  
  
"Why didn't you ever tell me?"  
  
She sighed. "Because it was on a need to know bases and you didn't need to know."  
  
Duncan let that part go. He wasn't about to get into an argument about that right now. One problem at a time.  
  
"What was his name?"  
  
"Adrian," She replied sadly. Her eyes got a distant look to them.  
  
"Do you want to tell me what happened?"  
  
"Not really. I've told you enough already."  
  
"Have you?" Duncan asked skeptically. "Maybe you haven't told me enough."  
  
"Maybe you should mind your own business," She shot back angrily.  
  
"You are my business."  
  
"I can change that you know." Dri stated.  
  
"Oh and what are you going to do? Run away again? Live on the streets?"  
  
"I've done it before!"  
  
"And look where it got you," Mac said.  
  
Dri looked around her room. "I'd say it got me into a pretty good place."  
  
Mac sighed. "Before I found you, you were hungry, exhausted, scared. Besides what if you had stolen from someone else? You got lucky and you know it."  
  
"I can take care of myself. Even if you hadn't come along I'd have.."  
  
"You'd have what?" Mac asked, raising his voice. "Ran from Alec forever?"  
  
She stood up. "Look I never asked for your help so don't act like I owe you anything!"  
  
"I'm not asking for anything except the truth Dri. The truth, that's all."  
  
She sighed. "I don't want to talk about it right now. Please Duncan, don't push this."  
  
The Highlander stood and pulled her into a hug. She tensed a little under his touch, but slowly she wrapped her arms around his waist.  
  
"I don't want to push this, but you won't tell me on your own. I want you to know that I am here for you. You can't keep everything in all the time."  
  
He pulled back and looked her in the eyes. "I mean it Dri. Don't keep me locked out."  
  
She nodded just as Connor knocked on the door.  
  
"I hate to interrupt, but I need to speak with you Duncan."  
  
Mac nodded. "I'll be right there."  
  
Connor walked out and closed the door. Duncan turned back to Dri and pushed her tangled hair out of her face. "You don't have to run anymore. Richie and I both love you and here for you."  
  
"I know. Go see what Connor wants," She said pushing him to the door.  
  
Duncan glanced at her one last time and then he walked out of the room. Connor was standing just outside the door.  
  
"Is she all right?" Connor asked.  
  
"I hope so," Duncan replied. "What did you need to talk to me about?"  
  
The two men walked over to the couch and sat down.  
  
"McDaniels called."  
  
"How did he get this number?" Duncan asked.  
  
Connor held up a cell phone. "He didn't. He got this one."  
  
"Since when did you get into electronics?"  
  
Connor smiled. "Since Rachel introduced me to them."  
  
Mac laughed. "You never could resist her Connor."  
  
"You're one to talk my friend. You have a young girl sitting in the bedroom who means just as much to you as Rachel does to me."  
  
Duncan changed the subject. "So what did McDaniels want?"  
  
"What else," Connor said. "Me."  
  
"When?"  
  
"Tonight at the bridge."  
  
"It could be a trap," Duncan said nodding.  
  
"Could be," Connor agreed mimicking his movements.  
  
"But you're going to go anyways." He made it a statement.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Do you want me to come with you?"  
  
Connor stopped nodding. "No. You need to protect the girl."  
  
"McDaniels doesn't know where she is."  
  
"Not yet, but if I don't go tonight McDaniels has already threatened to come after Dri."  
  
Duncan crossed his arms. "All right. I'll stay here."  
  
"Good," Connor walked for the door. He stopped before he walked out and turned back to Duncan. "If things go wrong my friend."  
  
"I'll take care of him," Mac finished for him.  
  
Connor nodded and walked out. Duncan sighed and fell back onto the couch.  
  
"Where's Connor going?" Dri asked from the hall way.  
  
He looked over his shoulder. "He had some thing to take care of."  
  
"Oh," She said and started walking towards her room.  
  
"Dri,"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Come over here I want to talk to you."  
  
She sighed. "Haven't we talked enough?"  
  
He gave her that 'don't be a smart ass' look.  
  
"I'll take that as a no." She walked over to the couch and plopped down beside him.  
  
"You know you've already started telling me about him. I don't see why you shouldn't finish."  
  
She glared at him for the corner of her eye. "You're not going to let this go are you?"  
  
"Not a chance," He said with that goofy smile.  
  
"Let what go?" Richie asked coming in the front door.  
  
Duncan glanced at Dri. "Are you going to tell him?"  
  
She shrugged. "Might as well. The cats out of the bag as it is and if I don't tell him you probably will."  
  
"Tell me what?" Richie asked.  
  
"Sit down," Dri said tiredly. "I'm only going to tell this story once."  
  
Richie sat down in the recliner and exchanged a glance with Mac.  
  
"Adrian was my twin brother," She began.  
  
Richie's eyebrows shot up from that statement.  
  
"Yeah I know," She said to him. "You weren't expecting that."  
  
"Not exactly," Richie said.  
  
"Adrian and I would do everything together. If one of us got into trouble the other one would be standing right there taking half the blame." She smiled at the memory. "He was what kept me going for a long time when dad died. He would take the brunt force of what my mother would dish out."  
  
"So what happened?" Richie asked.  
  
Dri gazed up, blinking back tears. Richie was shocked to see her eyes were misted over. He had never seen her cry.  
  
"The police classified it as an accident," She said bitterly as silent tears began silently rolling down her cheeks.  
  
TBC...Please Review!!!! 


	9. Story Time

~~AN: Thanks for the wonderful reviews guys!!! Here's the next part!!  
  
Duncan put an arm around his shoulder. She roughly wiped the tears off her face and sighed heavily. She didn't lean into Macs embrace, but she didn't pull away either.  
  
"This is so stupid," She stated. "I shouldn't be crying. It all happened so long ago."  
  
"Just because it happened a long time ago doesn't mean that you don't still feel the pain."  
  
She shrugged. "I still feel stupid."  
  
Duncan squeezed her shoulders reassuringly.  
  
"Well don't. There's nothing wrong with crying. Sometimes the body needs it."  
  
She shrugged again.  
  
"So what actually happened?" Richie asked gently.  
  
She shook her head. "I told you the police classified it as an accident."  
  
"Yeah well I somehow don't think that's exactly true," Richie told her.  
  
Dri laughed bitterly. "You don't miss a beat do you?"  
  
"Come on Dri," Duncan encouraged. "What happened?"  
  
Another tear slid down her cheek.  
  
"Remember when I told you I never had the ideal mother?"  
  
The two men nodded.  
  
"Well I was putting it nicely. The truth is she was a class A bitch. She had always hated me, but after my father had died." She trailed off.  
  
"Go on," Duncan encouraged.  
  
"After my father died, she started hitting me. I thought everything I did was wrong. I mean if I even washed the dishes wrong she would hit me until I was bloody and bruised."  
  
"What about Adrian?" Richie asked.  
  
"Adrian hated what she was doing to me. She would never touch him," She smiled sadly. "I remember this one time we were running around the house playing. I remember it was right before Alec. I don't know exactly what happened, but he bumped into the table and knocked over one of her vases. It broke and of course her precious little boy couldn't have been at fault."  
  
"So she came after you," Richie said almost angrily.  
  
The anger in his voice wasn't missed by Duncan. He'd take care of that later though. One trauma at a time.  
  
Dri nodded in response to Richie's statement. "Yeah, but Adrian stepped in front of her while she had her hand raised. He told her it wasn't my fault. She let it go because Adrian couldn't be at fault for anything."  
  
She closed her eyes and bit her lip.  
  
"Are you all right?" Mac asked.  
  
"I'll live," She replied swallowing the lump in her throat. "Let me just get this out all right?"  
  
"All right," Mac replied. "Go on."  
  
"Anyways things pretty much went on like that, which is why when Alec came along I was happy. He'd always stop my mother from hitting me. Once he came into the picture she never laid another hand on me," Dri wrapped her arms around herself. "And all of a sudden the roles reversed in the worst way."  
  
"Alec started hitting Adrian," Richie stated.  
  
She nodded. "Sometimes worse than my mother had hit me. I know it's horrible but at first I thought that he deserved it after everything that bitch had put me through. You know sort of a karma payback. After a while though I couldn't stand to see it anymore and I knew it was wrong so then I started getting in the way. I would do the same thing with Alec that Adrian had done with my mom."  
  
"But that didn't stop him," Duncan said.  
  
Dri shrugged. "Sometimes it would, sometimes it wouldn't. All I know is that three days after our fourteenth birthday I came home to find out that Alec was dead. He had supposedly fallen down the stairs, but I knew better. He didn't 'fall'!" Dri exclaimed. "Alec pushed him!"  
  
"Dri I'm not sticking up for Alec, but how can you be so sure?" Mac asked.  
  
"Because Alec told me he did it," She replied indignantly. "He told me that Adrian wasn't special like I was. He didn't deserve to live." She laughed sarcastically. "I'm just SO special let me tell you. A pre- immortal that got her brother killed."  
  
Richie and Duncan exchanged a shocked glanced.  
  
"What you think I'm stupid?" She asked. "After I found out what you guys and Alec were and everything that was said you think I couldn't figure it out?"  
  
"You never said anything," The Highlander told her.  
  
"Why? Why tell you? Would it have changed anything?"  
  
"Well now I know why you like training with swords so much." Mac said.  
  
Dri went to reply just as there was a knock at the door. Richie got up.  
  
"I'll get it."  
  
He walked over to the door and opened it. Just as he did gun shots blasted through the room. Dri screamed as Mac threw himself over her. Richie fell to the floor in a lifeless heap.  
  
Duncan got up as the gunshots stopped. It wasn't an immortal he would have felt it. He turned around and all he could see before he was shot was a young man in black jeans and shirt, and a black leather jacket with a machine gun in his hand. Mac fell to the floor and looked over to Dri.  
  
"Run," He whispered right before his eyes went empty.  
  
Dri stared at him for a moment with wide eyes. She knew he was immortal but she had never seen him die before. It freaked her out. She choked back a scream before she jumped up and ran for her room. She had spent too much time staring at Duncan and the man was too fast for her. He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her body against his so that her back was against his chest.  
  
"Hold it right there darlin'" he said in a rich southern accent.  
  
Dri struggled and then elbowed him in the gut as hard as she could. He dropped her as he gasped for air and she ran into her room, slamming and locking the door behind her. Dri could hear him banging on the door as she quickly ran for the fire escape. He broke through the door just as she started climbing down. When she got half way down the last ladder she jumped the rest of the way.  
  
She looked up to see the man running after her. She didn't waist anymore time and took off down the alley running as fast as she cold to get away from this guy. She was half way to the street when she ran directly into somebody's arms. Dri started to pull back, but the person grabbed her and quickly put a cloth soaked in clorophorm over her face. She tried to struggle, but it was no use. She heard someone laugh just as everything went black.  
  
AN~~ Reviews!! Reviews I say!!! LOL 


	10. A Little Hostility

AN: Okay this is kinda short, but I'll make up for it. Please Review!!!  
  
Mac woke up soon after his death, which he was thankful for considering the fact that he knew the police would be coming soon. It was slightly painful but he got up and walked over to Richie just as the younger man sat up gasping for air.  
  
"Get up," Mac said. "We have to get out of here before the cops come."  
  
Just as he said that sirens were already being heard in the distance. It wasn't like the dojo or antique store. He had neighbors and some of them were nosey. Hell even the ones who weren't would have called in gunshots.  
  
Richie cried out as Duncan pulled him to his feet. "Take it easy Mac, I've never been shot before."  
  
"Get used to it," The Highlander told him. "It probably won't be the last time."  
  
The two men scrambled out of the door. They quickly went downstairs and took off in Duncan's TBird.  
  
"Where are we going?" Richie asked.  
  
"The warehouse," Mac said rounding the corner. "Connor will know to meet us there when he see's all the police cars."  
  
"I thought Connor was taking care of McDaniels."  
  
Duncan glanced over at his young friend. "I somehow doubt that McDaniels showed up."  
  
Richie was almost healed, but his heart was still pounding. He didn't like where Mac was going with this. He didn't like it at all.  
  
"You think it was a setup?"  
  
Duncan nodded.  
  
"But why? Connor was obvioiusly willing to meet him?"  
  
"McDaniels mind is twisted Richie. He's sick."  
  
"So are a lot of other immortals," Richie stated. "What's your point?"  
  
Duncan sighed. "My point is that this is all a big game to McDaniels and Dri is just a pawn that he plans on using for much bigger plans."  
  
"But I still don't understand why if Connor was willing to meet him? Why does he need Dri?"  
  
MacLeod pulled up to the warehouse.  
  
"When he saw Dri and Connor together he assumed that Dri was someone Connor cared about. If he can hurt Connor it makes taking his head that much more fun for him."  
  
Richie's face paled as they got out of the car. "He's not going to.I mean.What if he?"  
  
Duncan walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Calm down. We both know that Dri can take care of herself. She's been through enough to know how to handle the situation."  
  
"But McDaniels is stronger Mac. She can't take him."  
  
"He also won't hurt her until he knows that Connor is either waching or listening. Even so she knows how to bide her time. She's safe for now."  
  
Richie nodded. They walked into the warehouse and immediately felt the presence of another immortal. Mac swung around and had his sword half drawn, as did Richie, when Connor walked through the opening.  
  
"Connor!" Duncan exclaimed. "We weren't expecting you so soon!"  
  
"What's happened?" Connor asked.  
  
"Dri's gone!" Richie said angrily.  
  
He had felt reassured when Mac had talked to him a few moments ago, but now that he saw Connor he felt anger rising inside him. He was furious at the situation, but more so at Connor. This was all his fault.  
  
"Richie, calm down," Duncan said.  
  
"McDaniels has got her! How the hell are we going to find him?" He half yelled.  
  
"It was a set up Connor," Mac said calmly. "Only instead of it being a set up at the bridge to get you, it was a set up to get Dri, and it worked."  
  
Connor walked past them and sighed. "I didn't think he would do something like this. I knew he had been eyeing the young girl, but I didn't think he wanted her so badly as to do this."  
  
"How did you get here so fast?" Richie suddenly asked.  
  
Connor turned around and Richie walked up to him.  
  
"You knew he was going to come after her didn't you?!"  
  
"I had my suspicions when he wasn't at the bridge, yes. Although when I went back to the apartment it was too late to do anything. I must only have been seconds behind you. I could not have stopped him."  
  
Richie looked back at Mac and smiled.  
  
"He couldn't have stopped him Mac. Did you hear that?" He said as he turned around and gave Connor a right hook that sent him staggering.  
  
Richie took another step towards Connor when Duncan grabbed him.  
  
"Let go of me Mac!"  
  
"Not until you calm down!"  
  
"This could have all been prevented and you know it!" Richie screamed. "He knew that bastard was here and he let himself be seen with Dri!" He was still struggling against Macs hold.  
  
"It's all right Duncan," Connor said when he regained his footing. "Let him go."  
  
Mac hesitated but let go. Richie jerked away from him and walked up to Connor.  
  
"What are you going to do? Hit me again?" The elder Highlander asked. "If it will satisfy you go ahead."  
  
Richie stared at Connor, fury in his eyes. He was clenching his fists, his breathing heavy.  
  
"You think I'm proud of this," Connor continued. "You think that I don't know that this is my fault? Trust me boy, you hitting me doesn't bother me, but the more time you waist, the more time goes by that McDaniels is with Dri."  
  
Richie through his hands up. "You're right. I'm sorry. I'm just worried about her."  
  
"We all are," Mac said coming up and putting a hand on his shoulder. "Come on. Lets go see Joe. Maybe he can help us find out where she is."  
  
"That's your watcher friend isn't it?" Connor asked.  
  
Duncan nodded. "He probably knows who's been watching McDaniels. At the very least he can give us his files."  
  
Richie nodded and the three men walked out and got into the TBird. Next stop, Joe's Bar."  
  
TBC~~~All right guys.Please review!! 


	11. Waking

AN~Hey guys Thanks so much for the reviews. I'm on a writing spree tonight so here's the next part. Let me know what you think!!!  
  
Dri's vision was blurred when she first woke up. Everything seemed to have a white haze around it. Her head hurt so bad it felt like her brain was slamming into the front of her skull. She tried to reach her hands up to her head but realized there were already up. In fact they were up to high.  
  
She blinked a few times until her vision even out. Then she looked up to see that her hands were bound together above her head. She was dangling from a low ceiling beam. Dri looked down and saw that her feet were a few inches off the ground. She tried to loosen the ropes, but it was no use. All it did was make her shoulders hurt and her wrists raw.  
  
She took a deep breath and concentrated on making her headache go away. Something her father had taught her through meditation. She couldn't get it all to go away, but eventually it fell into a dull throb.  
  
Someone had taken Dri's hair out of its pony tail and it now fell in soft layers around her face. She hated her hair being in her face. That's why she always wore it up. It always got in the way when it was down. She had considered cutting it, but remembered how much Adrian had loved to play with her hair. So she decided against it, but she still always kept it out of her face.  
  
Dri threw her head back to get the hair out of her face and instantly regretted it as her headache came back full force.  
  
"Way to go bright one," She said to herself.  
  
She wished her hands were free right now. Oh well no use in dwelling on it. Instead she started looking around. She was in a small room with no windows and only one door. A small wall fixture gave her dim light. Honestly she was grateful for that because she didn't know how well she could handle bright light right now.  
  
There was nothing in the room except a chair placed in front of the door that was facing her and over to her right was a bed. She was hoping that the bed was because this particular bad guy was nice and would let her sleep comfortably, but somehow she doubted it. In fact she really didn't want to know what the true reason for that bed was.  
  
The door opened and a bright light washed over the room. Dri closed her eyes and turned her head. The sudden flash of light made her headache that much worse.  
  
"Good morning beautiful," A voice that seemed very familiar said.  
  
She heard the door click close and slowly opened her eyes. There was a figure sitting in the chair in front of her. She couldn't see exactly who it was. All she could tell was it was a man. It was too dark. The figure was shadowed.  
  
"How are you feeling?" The voice said again.  
  
"I could be better," She replied.  
  
"I'm sorry to hear that."  
  
"Who are you?" She asked cautiously.  
  
He laughed. "We just met and already you have forgotten me? Just like the mind of a child."  
  
He stood up and walked over to her. The closer he got the more of him she could see. She may have been hanging but when he was standingr his face was even with hers. When all of him was in view she kept her face as neutral as possible, but she was still shocked at whom he was.  
  
"You," She said. "You're Connors friend from the park."  
  
"I believe you called me a creep," He said with a sly smile.  
  
"Oh, well about that," She said. "I was having a bad day. You just happened to be in the line of fire for my ranting."  
  
"That's quite all right. As I said before, I like a girl with attitude." He reached out and ran a hand through her hair.  
  
Dri didn't pull away. She wasn't about to get him pissed over this. This didn't hurt her. She was at a disadvantage and she knew that there were many things he could do to harm her if he really wanted.  
  
"You're hair is so soft. Why do you insist on warring it up all the time?" He leaned and breathed in the sent of her hair. "Tell me," He said through her hair. "What is your name?"  
  
"Dri," She answered keeping her eyes straight ahead. She had picked a point on the wall and stared very intently on it. She honestly didn't want this creep this close to her, but she had to keep him busy with small things so that Duncan could find her.  
  
"That's an unusual name," He said still caressing her hair. "What is your real name?"  
  
"I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours," She told him.  
  
He laughed and pulled out of her hair. He put his face dangerously close to hers. So close in fact that his pointy nose was touching hers.  
  
"Jason," He said quietly. "Jason McDaniels."  
  
"Audrina," She said just as quietly. "Audrina Carver."  
  
Jason smiled and pulled both hands up to cup either side of her face. Then he kissed her. Dri tried to pull her head back, but he held on tight. He pushed his tongue into her mouth trying to explore. Dri took the opportunity and bit down hard on his tongue. He cried out but Dri held on until she felt the coppery taste of blood in her mouth.  
  
Jason reached down and punched hard in the gut. Dri felt all the air rush out of her as she let go of his tongue. Jason stepped back with his hand over his mouth. Blood was dripping between his fingers.  
  
Dri was dangling in mid air trying to catch her breath. It felt like someone had taken a vacuum cleaner and sucked all the oxygen out of her lungs. She wished that they would hit the reverse switch and blow it all back in.  
  
"Well," Jason said after a few moments. "I didn't expect you to have this much spirit. I shall have to be more cautious of you." He pulled his hand down from his mouth. "I hope I didn't hurt you too much as it was not my intent."  
  
"I'm sure," She said between gasps.  
  
"I swear it wasn't," Jason said through a blood stained mouth.  
  
"Then what exactly was your intent?"  
  
Jason wiped the blood around his mouth off with his sleeve. Then he smiled. Dri grimaced at the blood all over his teeth.  
  
"You'll find out later." He walked up to her and stroked her hair again. "I can hardly contain your beauty."  
  
He leaned in to kiss her again, but she spit in his face before he got close enough. He grabbed her hair and jerked her head back.  
  
"I can see you're going to be a hard one to break." He wiped the spit off his face with his index finger and then sucked it off slowly.  
  
"That's really disgusting," Dri told him.  
  
He jerked her head back farther and she cried out. It wasn't just from the pain in her head. Jason was also pulling her down which was hurting her shoulders and digging the rope into her wrists. She could feel the first trickles of blood sliding down her arms.  
  
"If you think that was disgusting my dear, just wait until later." He held her head in place as he licked the side of her face.  
  
Dri cried out in revulsion. He let go of her hair and walked out of the room. She could hear his laughter even after the door closed. The sound of it made her want to vomit.  
  
"Jerk," She said after his laughter faded.  
  
Dri looked around the room. She'd been in tighter situations than this with Alec. There had to be a way out. She looked up at her where the rope was tied to her wrists. She noticed that that there were red rings around her wrist lower than then where the actual rope was. The force of Jason pulling on her must have pulled her down some.  
  
She sighed. She knew that what she was about to do was going to hurt like hell. She had taught herself to do it when Alec had started tying her up to her bed at night. As long as her hands were next to each other she could do it.  
  
The only thing was she didn't want to cry out and have Jason come back into the room. She reached down with her mouth to grab the tip of her shirt. Then she used her tongue to pull it up so that she had a wad of it in her mouth. Her stomach was showing, but she could live with that.  
  
Then she took her left hand and grabbed her right thumb. She pulled it backwards until she heard the audible pop and felt the excruciating pain that told her she had dislocated it. She cried out, but it was muffled through the fabric of her shirt.  
  
With her thumb dislocated she could easily slide her right hand out of the rope. That left the other side of the rope loose enough so that her left hand could slide out without anymore pain. She dropped to the floor landing on the balls of her feet.  
  
The shirt had fallen out of Dri's mouth when she fell. She took a few deep breaths and replaced it into her mouth. Then she quickly replaced her thumb back in its socket crying out into her shirt and falling on her butt as she did.  
  
Dri panted and let the shirt fall out of her mouth. There was a big wet spot, but at least she was out of the ropes. She drew her legs to her chest and dropped her head on top of her knees. She would get things together in a minute. Right now she needed for the pain to pass and to catch her breath.  
  
Jason wouldn't be back for a while. If he had been planning on doing anything he would have done it then. He had bigger plans and Dri knew it. She just hoped she was out of here before he could put any of those plans into action.  
  
TBC~~~Please Review Guys!! 


	12. Anger Management

AN: Okay like I said I'm on a spree here. The muses are all over me te he.  
  
By the time they pulled up to the bar dawn could be seen peaking over the horizon. To be honest Mac wasn't sure if Joe would even be there. He normally left around now or a little earlier. He hoped it was around now.  
  
The three men got out of the car and walked up to the back entrance. Duncan wrapped on the door three times. They stood there in the cold for a minute or two before the door swung open.  
  
"MacLeod?" Joe said. "Where the hell have you been? You apartments been shot to hell."  
  
"Yeah, I know," The Highlander said walking inside, past Joe.  
  
Richie and Connor followed and Joe shut the door.  
  
"Where's the kid?" Joe asked. "Is she all right?"  
  
Richie, Connor, and MacLeod all exchanged a glance.  
  
"What's wrong?" The Watcher asked.  
  
Mac sighed. "McDaniels has got her."  
  
"Aw Mac, I'm sorry. What happened?"  
  
"It's a long story, it's been an even longer night and I need a drink." He replied walking over to the bar.  
  
Richie and Connor sat on either side of him. Joe walked behind the bar and handed each of them a beer. Richie and Mac began to drink it, but Connor left his untouched. Mac went on to explain what happened.  
  
Twenty minutes and two beers later MacLeod finished his story and looked up at the watcher.  
  
"We need your help Joe."  
  
"I don't know where he is, but I can find out."  
  
"Do you know who was helping him?" Richie asked. "He sure as hell wasn't immortal. I want to know who the bastard is!"  
  
"Richie calm down." Mac realized he'd been saying that a lot in the last few hours.  
  
Richie slammed his hand down hard on the bar. The sound echoed through the empty room.  
  
"This is so damn frustrating! He could be doing anything to her and we're sitting here doing nothing!"  
  
Before anyone could respond Richie got up and walked up the side stairs. Mac knew where he was going. The roof. No matter where they had lived the roof always seemed to be refuge for Richie.  
  
Mac moaned. "I"ll go talk to him. Joe, you find out where we can find McDaniels."  
  
"You got it Mac," Joe said to the figure that was already half way to the stairs.  
  
Mac emerged on the roof to find Richie sitting on the ledge with his feet dangling over the side. He was leaning back on his hands and looking up at the sky.  
  
"What's going on Richie?" Mac asked bluntly.  
  
"Nothing!" He exclaimed. "I'm just worried about Dri."  
  
Duncan walked over and sat next to his young friend.  
  
"There's more to it than that. You and I both know it."  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about Mac."  
  
"Oh, I think you do. I see the anger in your eyes Richie. I hear the heat in your words when we're talking to Dri about her past. It's not just from sympathy. It's more like empathy. What's going on?"  
  
"Just let it go Mac."  
  
Duncan shook his head. "I can't do that. I've let it go for too long. You started to tell me before. I want you to tell me now."  
  
"There's nothing to talk about," Richie said sitting up.  
  
"Well I think there is." He looked over at his friend who wouldn't meet his gaze.  
  
Mac put an arm around the young man. "Talk to me Richie. Tell me who hurt you."  
  
"That's not important right now. Right now we need to worry about Dri."  
  
"I'm worried about Dri, but I'm also worried about you Richie. I need you to talk to me. Tell me what happened."  
  
The younger man sighed. "You're just not going to let this go are you?"  
  
Mac smiled his goofy grin. "Not a chance tough guy."  
  
"Look Mac, I mean it's hard enough for me to ask for help, but talking about my past.it's just something I don't do."  
  
"You can tell me anything Rich, you know that."  
  
"I know that, believe me I do, but this is different. I mean what if." He trailed off.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I don't want you to know my past Mac. I don't want you to look at me different."  
  
Duncan was stunned by this. "Richie, I'm not going to look at you any differently because of what happened in your past. Nothing you tell me is going to make me think any less of you."  
  
Richie looked up again. "I was fourteen," He began with an uncertain voice. "The system had just put me in a new foster home. Supposedly they were some ideal couple looking for a teenage son. Apparently between my age and past I fit the bill. I never understood why, but I wasn't questioning it." He paused and took a breath.  
  
"Something tells me that they weren't the model citizens the state made them out to be." Duncan said.  
  
Richie grunted. "You can say that again. The lady, Kim was a dead beat who liked to snort in her spare time, which was almost twenty four seven. Jack, her husband, was a drunk."  
  
"Gotta love the back round checks the state does on these people," Mac said.  
  
"Tell me about it," Richie replied.  
  
"So," Duncan said, when Richie fell silent.  
  
"Soon I realized that the only reason they wanted a teenage son was because I didn't need so much attention. I could take care of myself and they didn't really need to watch over me. The checks for my care went to their habits." He shrugged. "It wasn't hard to figure out why I was the ideal foster son for them."  
  
"That's a touching story Richie, it really is, but what exactly aren't you telling me?"  
  
"I was hoping you'd leave it at that," The young man groaned.  
  
"Not a chance," Mac said looking over the building tops.  
  
Richie wrapped his arms around himself as though he was cold. Mac knew he wasn't going to like what the kid had to say.  
  
"I would mostly stay out of the way. The only times they cared if I was home when my social worker would come by for visits. One time though I was late. They played it off as the nice disciplinarians while she was there, but as soon as she was gone I knew I was in for it." He hugged himself tighter. "I tried to run but Jack was bigger and faster than I was. He caught me before I could get past the couch. I thought he was just going to rough me up a little."  
  
"I take it that it was more than a little."  
  
"Mac saying he roughed me up 'A LOT' is putting it mildly." He looked away and his gaze became distant. "There was this wrench on the table and he grabbed it. Geez Mac I was so scared when I saw him pick it up. I tried to get away from him, but he was too strong."  
  
"God Richie I'm sorry," Mac said honestly.  
  
He shrugged. "I don't remember much of it. I blacked out after the first few swings, but I remember it hurt like hell when I woke up."  
  
Mac grinded his teeth. He would love to get his hands on the guy who did this. He would love to do to him exactly what he did to Richie and see how he liked it.  
  
"So the state took you away right?"  
  
"You'd think so, but no. Jack told the police that I had stumbled in the house looking like that. I was a problem child so they believed him when they told him he was suspicious I was in a gang."  
  
"It wasn't your fault," Mac said.  
  
He shook his head. "I shouldn't have been late," Richie said. "I shouldn't have called him an ass the next time, or gotten in his way, or.."  
  
"Richie!" Duncan cut him off. "It was not your fault. You were fourteen years old!"  
  
Richie got up and started pacing back and forth on the roof top.  
  
"I know it wasn't." He grumbled.  
  
Mac got up and grabbed him by the shoulders. Richie looked down and wouldn't meet his gaze. Mac put a hand underneath his chin and gently forced Richie to look at him. The pain from the memories were very raw in the eyes that usually were very shielded.  
  
"No, I don't think you do know. It wasn't your fault."  
  
"I know."  
  
"It wasn't your fault Richie."  
  
"Don't do this Mac," He said shaking his head. "I don't need this. Not from you!"  
  
Richie tried to pull away but Duncan held on to his shoulders.  
  
"It wasn't your fault."  
  
"I know!" Richie screamed as he dropped to his knees.  
  
Mac fell with him so Richie wouldn't hurt himself. The young mans face had become ghostly white.  
  
"I know," He whispered.  
  
Richie leaned his head into Macs chest. Duncan didn't say anything. He just embraced the young man. A minute or so later he felt Richie wrap his arms around his waist.  
  
Duncan lost track of time for how long they had been sitting there, but eventually he felt Richie pull away. He didn't stop him. When the younger man at up he was glad to see that color had somewhat been restored to his face. He hadn't cried but Mac hadn't really been expecting that. Richie told him what happened. That didn't mean he was about to let his emotions run wild.  
  
"Look Mac.."  
  
"It's all right Richie," Mac cut him off seeing that he was feeling somewhat awkward over the situation. "This stays between us."  
  
Richie nodded. "Thanks Mac."  
  
Duncan stood up and held out a hand to Richie. The younger man let the Highlander help him up.  
  
"What do you say we go and see what Joe has found out?" Mac said putting an arm around Richie's shoulders.  
  
Richie smiled halfheartedly. "Sounds like a plan."  
  
TBC~~~~Please Review Guys!! 


	13. Biding Time

AN: Thanks for the reviews everyone!! I hope you guys like this chapter.  
  
Dri was standing next to the door in her small prison. The chair was held tight in her hands. She was hoping that Jason had been stupid enough to leave the door unlocked thinking that she couldn't get out of the ropes. Unfortunately that didn't happen.  
  
She didn't know how much time had passed since Jason had been in there. If she were still tied up she wouldn't be complaining, but she wasn't, so she was. Dri wanted out of there and she hoped she knew how to do it.  
  
At the same time she was wondering where Mac was. She knew she had to be there for a while by now. Why hadn't he come yet? Of course he hadn't come when she ran into the park. He had sent Connor. If he didn't care enough to come then, would he come now?  
  
Dri's heart sank at the thought of it. She was so confused. On one hand she believed that Duncan truly cared about her. He was always there when she had nightmares and always tried to get her to confide in him. But if he would send someone else after her when she was missing, how much could he really care?  
  
She shook her head trying to throw the thoughts away.  
  
'No! Duncan cares, so does Richie!' She thought to herself. 'They'll come for me. He wouldn't let Jason hurt me. Would he?'  
  
Everything that Dri had gone through affected her thoughts. She was completely petrified to trust anyone totally.  
  
'Maybe I'm cursed. Maybe everyone I care about is either supposed to leave me somehow or hurt me. I don't know what I did to deserve this..Wait, yes I do. It's because of what I let happen to Adrian. If I had protected him I wouldn't be here. Maybe he'd still be alive. If this is my punishment, than I willingly take it.Just not from Jason. I don't care about him so he has no right to hurt me.'  
  
Dri's thoughts came to a screeching halt when she heard the door knob start to turn. She gripped the chair tightly in both hands. Her thumb still had a dull ache from being dislocated but the adrenaline that began to pump through her was quickly taking the pain away.  
  
Her timing had to be perfect. She had to do it at just the precise moment or her plan wouldn't work. Jason walked in the room carrying a tray of food or something. She didn't really care to look.  
  
"Good after noon beaut."  
  
His words were cut off as Dri swung the chair full force into Jasons face. The tray and its contents scattered everywhere. Dri was shocked to see that it wasn't food. It was a syringe and some kind of bottle. The bastard was going to drug her again! She looked at the unconscious heap on the floor. He probably was immortal so she wouldn't have much time. She turned on her heel and ran out of the room. She spotted stairs at the end of the hall and ran towards them as fast as her legs would carry her.  
  
Dri ran down three flights of stairs before she finally hit the ground floor. The door wasn't far from the stair case. She bolted out the door and stopped in her tracks. Dri had no idea where she was and she'd been all over Seacouver and back before.  
  
It was a residential area. A rich residential area with lots of fancy houses and cars that matched. Alec had been loaded but he preferred the house boat. She was completely lost as to her where abouts.  
  
Oh well it didn't matter. The only thing that she cared about was getting rid of Jason. She ran down the block and turned left. More houses. It wasn't like the city. She could find someplace to hide for a while and then contact Mac. This was different. There was no place to hide.  
  
Her only hope was that someone was home in one of these many houses. She ran up to the first one she came too and pounded on the door.  
  
"Come on," She said. "Open up."  
  
She wrapped on the door even harder. Finally the door flung open. A middle aged man wearing a maroon bathrobe that made him look overly large was standing in the doorway. To be quite frank he took up most of the space between the frame.  
  
"Do you know what time it is?" He exclaimed. "It's 2:30 in the morning! What the hell do you want!"  
  
"I'm sorry to bother you but I need to use your phone!"  
  
"There's a gas station three blocks away go there." He started to shut the door in her face, but she put her foot in the door way.  
  
"You don't understand it's an emergency! Please! It's life or death we're talking about here!"  
  
"Go Away!" He yelled.  
  
He started to shut the door again but Dri quickly kicked him in the gut causing him to fall backwards onto his butt. He sat there gasping for breath and Dri ran past him into the living room. She circled for a moment until she saw the phone and then she ran to it.  
  
She quickly dialed the number and let it ring.  
  
"Macleod," The voice said.  
  
"Mac, it's me!"  
  
"Dri!" Duncan exclaimed from the other end. "Are you all right? Where are you?"  
  
"I'm fine for now and I'm..SHIT!"  
  
"What?"  
  
"I don't know where the hell I am, hold on."  
  
"DRI WAIT!"  
  
But she had already put the phone down next to the receiver. She walked over and leaned down to the man who was quickly gaining composure.  
  
"Look, I'm sorry, but I really really need to know where the hell I am."  
  
The man looked up at her and then past her. Dri didn't like the look. She turned around just in time to get slapped so hard across that face that it threw her half way across the room. She crashed into a table knocking the wind out of her.  
  
The man on the floor just stared.  
  
"I'm sorry sir," Jason said leaning next to him. He wrapped his arm around the mans shoulder.  
  
"Now you're going to pretend that none of this ever happened my friend." Jason shrugged and smiled. "Think of it as a dream, but if you tell the cops it will become a nightmare. Do you understand?"  
  
The man who had a petrified look on his face nodded quickly. Jason slapped him on the back.  
  
"Good."  
  
Dri saw what was happening and quickly got up and tried to run past Jason, but it didn't work.  
  
"Hold on beautiful," He said grabbing her around the waist.  
  
Dri screamed. "Let go of me you bastard!"  
  
"Now, now beautiful, such hostility."  
  
Dri elbowed an unexpecting Jason in the head. The blow connected directly with his nose causing blood to pour out and McDaniels to drop her. She ran past him out the door, but Jason was quick on her heels. He tackled her in the grass.  
  
Dri let out a blood curling scream. Attention was a good thing right now. Jason slapped her across the face. It stunned her, but it wasn't enough to shut her up. She screamed again and Jason pulled a syringe out of his pocket.  
  
"I didn't want to have to use this but you leave me no choice."  
  
Dri grabbed his hand before he could inject it into her skin. She needed to bide her time. Someone had to have heard her and called the police by now. They struggled back and forth for the needle. Jason finally threw the syringe down. He was becoming tired of these games.  
  
He stood up, yanking Dri up by the wrists as he did so. She broke his hold and went to punch him, but he quickly blocked. She in turn produced a round house kick, but he grabbed her leg. She smiled, jumped and kicked him square across the face with the other one, knocking him to the ground.  
  
Running wasn't an option anymore. She had to stay where she was. Someone had to have called the cops by now. Dri started kicking him in the side. Jason grunted and rolled out of the way, standing up as he did so.  
  
"I underestimated you beautiful," He said wiping blood from his face. "Connor has taught you well."  
  
She tilted her head in confusion. This wasn't lost on Jason.  
  
"Connor didn't teach you? I thought you and MacLeod were close."  
  
Then she realized that Jason had only seen her with Connor. He hadn't realized that she lived with Duncan, not the other Highlander. If he knew that he might not want her around much longer. That wouldn't be good.  
  
"Connor taught me some, but I already knew most of it," She lied.  
  
Jason smirked. "I may have underestimated you once, but I will not make that mistake again."  
  
Sirens started wailing in the distance.  
  
"Damn mortals," Jason muttered. "They're always getting in the way."  
  
He took a step towards Dri, she held her ground.  
  
"If you try and take me you'll never get away Jason. The cops will take you to jail."  
  
Jason partially bowed. "You have won this round beautiful, but this isn't over. I will have you."  
  
With that said he took off into the night. Dri watched until he was out of sight. Then she fell to her knees just as the police cars pulled into the drive.  
  
TBC~~Please Review.Pretty Please? Come on you know you want to. 


	14. Found

AN: Muses are still fluttering around. I guess having the first series on DVD so I can watch it anytime helps lol.  
  
Mac, Richie, and Connor walked inside the emergency room. They had received a call from the police not long after Mac had heard from Dri. She had given them the number to Joe's bar. Needless to say he was worried sick when she had put the phone down and didn't come back.  
  
Duncan walked up to the nurses station. A petite woman with strawberry blonde hair in pink scrubs was doing some paperwork.  
  
"Excuse me miss, but I'm looking for Audrina Carver."  
  
"And you are?" She asked with a bit of an attitude.  
  
"I'm Duncan MacLeod. I'm her foster father."  
  
She nodded. "Right this way Mr. MacLeod."  
  
She started to show him the way and stopped when Richie and Connor began to follow.  
  
"I'm sorry but I can only allow you to see her. This 'IS' an emergency room."  
  
Duncan nodded to Connor and Richie who took a seat in the emergency room. Then the young nurse started leading the way again. She took him back behind a room that was curtained off.  
  
"The Doctor will be in shortly," She told him.  
  
"Thank you," Duncan said walking behind the curtain.  
  
Dri was lying in bed staring at the ceiling. There was a large bruise under the left side of her cheek. Both of her wrists were bandaged. It looked as though she had tried to commit suicide. There were no other visible bruises, but between the hospital gown and Dri being under the blanket he couldn't be sure.  
  
She looked over at him.  
  
"Hey Mac."  
  
He walked over her bedside. The Highlander didn't know what McDaniels had done to her and he didn't want to scare her. Dri could see the worry in his eyes.  
  
"Don't worry Mac. I'm fine."  
  
"McDaniels didn't.."  
  
Dri shook her head. "He roughed me up a little, but other than that I'm fine."  
  
"I'd say he roughed you up a lot," A third voice said walking into the room. "I'm Dr. Ramirez."  
  
The Doctor was a man in his early to mid forties. He had short black hair with streaks of gray through it. His eyes were an icy blue, but there was compassion in them.  
  
"You have two cracked ribs, a sprained ankle, not to mention the bruises on your back."  
  
"Okay," Dri interjected not letting him finish. "I get the point. I also feel it."  
  
Duncan smirked.  
  
"Mr. MacLeod," Ramirez said. "I would like to keep her over night for observation."  
  
"NO!" Dri shouted sitting up. She regretted it as a pain shot through her side causing her to cry out.  
  
"Take it easy Dri," Mac said easing her back onto the bed.  
  
"Mac please, I don't want to stay here," She was begging him.  
  
"It's all right, Dri, calm down." He stroked her hair. Then he turned back to the doctor. "Is she in any immediate danger?"  
  
"Well no," Ramirez replied.  
  
"Then there's no reason I can't take her home?"  
  
"Well no, but.."  
  
"Well then," Mac cut him off. "Would you please draw up the discharge papers?"  
  
Ramirez sighed. "Very well Mr. MacLeod."  
  
He turned and walked out from behind the curtain. Duncan turned back to Dri.  
  
"Are you all right?"  
  
She nodded. "Thanks."  
  
"Try to take it easy all right. McDaniels did rough you up pretty good."  
  
"I'll live," She replied. "One way or another."  
  
Mac smiled. "I think your going to be just fine."  
  
Dri tried to adjust herself and winced. "Tell that to my ribs."  
  
Mac stroked her hair again. "You scared me kiddo."  
  
Dri looked away.  
  
"What's wrong?" Mac asked dropping his hand by his side.  
  
She shook her head. "I'm just tired."  
  
"Then rest. I'll go tell Richie and Connor that you're all right."  
  
"NO!" She yelled. "Mac please don't leave me alone here."  
  
He took a step closer to her. "Dri what is it?"  
  
"Please Duncan, don't go."  
  
Dri never called him Duncan unless she was really angry and apparently really scared.  
  
"All right," He said gently. "I'm not going anywhere."  
  
Dri dropped her head back on the pillow and sighed. Mac didn't understand why she was so scared, but he had a few ideas. He'd have to remember to talk to her about it later.  
  
A few minutes later Ramirez came back in with a stack of papers.  
  
"Just sign these Mr. MacLeod. Her clothes are in the cabinet there. I've included a prescription of pain medication for her. I'll send in a nurse to escort you out."  
  
"Thank you Dr. Ramirez."  
  
He nodded and walked out. Duncan reached up into the cabinet and grabbed Dri's clothes.  
  
"Do you need help?"  
  
She shook her head. "No, I've taken care of myself when I was worse than this."  
  
Mac handed her the clothes. "I'll give you some privacy. I'll be just outside the curtain."  
  
Dri nodded. Mac grabbed the stack of papers and walked out. He stayed just outside the curtain in case she fell or needed help, but somehow he doubted she would. He started signing the papers. A moment later the same rude nurse walked up to him pushing an empty wheelchair.  
  
"You didn't help her get dressed?" She asked truly appalled.  
  
Mac handed her the papers. "Trust me she didn't need it."  
  
"Really Mr. MacLeod," She said.  
  
She started to pull the curtain back, but Dri beat her to it.  
  
"I told him I didn't want his help." She said as she limped into the hallway. "And I won't need that chair."  
  
"You do need it and you will get in it," The nurse said.  
  
"Dri, just appease her please," Mac said. "Get in the chair."  
  
The nurse grabbed Dri's arm. Dri twisted her way out of it and shoved the nurse back.  
  
She cringed and favored her left side.  
  
"Don't EVER touch me!" She shouted still hunched over.  
  
Many of the people to stopped what they were doing to stare.  
  
The nurse was staring at Dri with her mouth wide open.  
  
"I didn't mean,"  
  
"I don't care what you meant," Dri interjected. "  
  
Duncan was behind Dri. He put a gentle hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Dri come on. Just get in the wheelchair and we'll go home."  
  
The teenager continued to glare at the woman as Duncan guided her into the chair. He didn't know what it was all about, but he'd have to remember to talk to Dri later. Apparently about a few things.  
  
"I think I'll push the chair," Mac told the nurse.  
  
He walked around and started pushing Dri out of the emergency room. The nurse followed silently. When they got into the waiting room Richie and Connor immediately stood up and walked over to them.  
  
"I'm fine," Dri said before they could ask anything. "I just want to get out of here."  
  
Neither Connor or Richie said anything. Something was obviously up. They just silently followed Duncan out to the car.  
  
Connor and Richie took the back seat because it was easier for Dri to get into the front. The nurse didn't say anything after the little event in the emergency room. She just took the empty wheelchair from Mac and went back inside.  
  
Mac got into the drivers side. He had wanted to tell the nurse he was sorry, but the truth was he wasn't. She had been rude since he walked in there, besides she never should have laid a hand on Dri.  
  
He started the TBird and left the hospital. He was taking Dri back to Joe's place. She would be safe there.  
  
TBC~Please Reivew!!! 


	15. A Lesson Learned The Hardway

AN: Sorry it took so long, but I've got a new job and it's taking up a little of my time. Anyways here's the next part.  
  
Duncan walked out of Joe's room closing the door softly behind him. Connor, Joe, and Richie were all sitting on the couch in the living room. No one was speaking. It wasn't a tense silence. It was just silent.  
  
"How is she?" Richie asked, standing up as Mac walked over.  
  
"She'll be all right," Mac said plopping down next to Connor on the couch. "She's sleeping.  
  
Richie sat back down. "Did McDaniels." He trailed off.  
  
Mac shook his head. "No, but he beat her up pretty good."  
  
"So what do we do now?" Joe asked.  
  
"Now," Connor said. "I end this with McDaniels."  
  
"Connor you don't even know where he is," Duncan said.  
  
"Actually," Joe spoke up. "I found out where he's staying."  
  
Connor stood up. "So have I."  
  
Mac looked up. "When did you have time to do that?"  
  
Connor smiled at him. "You are not my only friend in the city Duncan and I do have a phone."  
  
He started walking for the door and Duncan stood up.  
  
"Connor."  
  
"I know you're angry Duncan." He said over his shoulder. "But McDaniels is still mine."  
  
"Don't you think that you should at least tell me where he is in case." He trailed off.  
  
Connor turned around and looked him directly in the eye.  
  
"Connor I didn't mean,"  
  
"No Duncan, you are right. But you must promise me that you will only go if I do not return."  
  
The Highlander nodded. "You have my word."  
  
Connor sighed. "He's at the abandoned fair grounds. There's an old cave that they used for one of the rides. He likes to spend time in there when someone has figured out who he is."  
  
"Aye, I know what you're talking about," Mac told him.  
  
Connor nodded. "Good. I hope to see you again my friend."  
  
"As do I."  
  
"Richie, Joe," Connor acknowledged as he walked out.  
  
Duncan sat back down on the couch and sighed. He didn't like any of this. Of course no one noticed that Joe's bedroom door was slightly ajar and that Dri was listening to the whole conversation.  
  
She hated Jason McDaniels almost as much as she hated Alec. She knew where he was and she wanted to watch Connor destroy him. It wouldn't redeem what he had done, but it would give her pleasure to watch.  
  
Dri turned and limped over to the window.  
  
"Mac should know better." She said to herself.  
  
She crawled outside and put her feet safely on the fire escape. It took her a little longer than usual, but she made it to the bottom level which was equal with the first story window and looked down. There was still a small jump to the ground.  
  
"Can't they ever reach the damn ground?" Dri asked angrily.  
  
She knew that the jump was going to hurt like hell. She held her breath and jumped. She bit down on her tongue hard to keep from crying out as she landed. A pain shot all the way up her left leg. Her cry was muffled from biting on her tongue, but at the same time she caused her tongue to bleed from biting down so hard.  
  
Dri tasted the metallic blood in her mouth as she stood there to catch her breath. Walking on a sprained ankle took a lot out of a person. Jumping on it took even more. She started walking down the road. The pain in her left ankle was more than it had been before. She'd never make it to the fair grounds in time to see Connor fight this guy and she really really wanted to.  
  
Dri walked out into the street and her jaw dropped. This wasn't happening. It couldn't be. There was no way in hell.  
  
"Hello Beautiful."  
  
Dri turned around to run, but her ankle hindered her and Jason caught her fairly quickly. She started to let out a scream but McDaniels quickly put a hand over her mouth.  
  
"Tsk Tsk you shouldn't do that. It might draw some unwanted attention." He laughed. "You know it would do you well if you didn't constantly climb out of windows. A beautiful girl such as you might find herself in a bind."  
  
A car pulled up next to them and Jason pulled her in the car with him. A man Dri had never seen before was driving. He was already moving before the door shut.  
  
"Now Beautiful, I'll remove my hand as long as you promise not to scream."  
  
Dri nodded slowly.  
  
"Good," He went to remove his hand but stopped. "Audrina, if you do scream I will hurt you. Do you understand?"  
  
She nodded again and he took his hand away. She didn't scream. Jason had his arm around her shoulders so she couldn't move. Instead she turned her attention to the front of the car.  
  
The man driving had black hair cut almost exactly like Dawsons. He was younger though. Probably in his early thirties. His eyes were brown and his lips were so thin they were barely there.  
  
"You're the one who shot up the apartment aren't you?"  
  
"Well I couldn't exactly send an immortal in there now could I? After all your friends would have felt me coming from a mile away. With Andrews help it's been a much easier task." Jason answered all of this for him.  
  
"I bet it was you son of a bitch," Dri responded icily.  
  
"Now, now that's no way for a beautiful young lady to speak."  
  
"Oh it is when she's in the company of unscrupulous men."  
  
Jason looked as though he had just stricken him. Dri wished she had actually done so.  
  
"Did you hear that Andrew?" He asked in shock. "She said we're unscrupulous."  
  
"I know," Dri said. "I was wrong. Your just assholes!"  
  
Jason pulled back and then slapped her hard across the face. He had hit her on the left side which was where the bruise already was. The pain caused her to cry out.  
  
She put her hand to the side of her face and turned back to glare at Jason. He put his arm around her shoulders and leaned into her so that his nose was almost touching hers.  
  
"You would do well to treat me with respect beautiful. Things might go much more to your liking."  
  
Then he leaned in and kissed her. Dri squirmed under his kiss and pushed him away. Then out of reflex she quickly slapped him across the face.  
  
Jason smiled. Then he slapped her four more times back and forth across the face causing her head to snap left and right. By the time he was done blood was dripping down her nose and mouth.  
  
"I can tell you're going to be a tough one to break beautiful. I'm going to have fun bedding you."  
  
"Over MacLeods dead body," She seethed.  
  
Jason turned amused eyes on her. "Exactly as I planned it."  
  
Dri hadn't told him which MacLeod. He still hadn't realized that there were two of them which was definitely to her advantage. Connor wouldn't let anything happen to her. She knew that, but she didn't know how well Connor could fight. She hoped he could do it well and god forbid he couldn't, she had no doubt in her mind that Duncan could.  
  
They pulled up to the old fair grounds. Connor had been right. Dri only hoped that he was already here. If he wasn't she was in big trouble.  
  
Andrew brought the car around to a large cave and stopped. He got out of the car as did Jason who pulled Dri with him.  
  
"Take it easy," She told him as pain seared through her. "If you recall you slapped me through a table last time we met."  
  
"I am sorry about that, but you were being so stubborn."  
  
"I thought you liked that," She replied as he started dragging her into the cave.  
  
"Oh I do, believe me I do, but under very different circumstances.  
  
"Aww gee, that's too bad."  
  
Jason scowled and threw her at Andrew. Andrew had caught her by the shoulders. Dri looked down and noticed a watcher tattoo on his wrist. She looked up at him with surprise in her eyes.  
  
"You're a watcher," She stated.  
  
He smiled. "So I am."  
  
Andrew pushed her and she stumbled but didn't fall.  
  
"Get over there," He said pointing to a group of Rocks.  
  
It was where the cave had collapsed which told Dri it didn't go back as far as it should.  
  
She walked over in front of the rocks and turned around. Andrew picked up some roped that had been to the side and walked over to her.  
  
"Sit down." He told her.  
  
"Go to hell!" She replied. "I can't believe you would betray the organization."  
  
He slapped her so hard that she stumbled into the rocks. It scratched her hands and part of the right side of her face.  
  
"SHUT UP!" He yelled.  
  
"Andrew, calm yourself," Jason said. "Tie her up quickly. The Highlander is here."  
  
Andrew jerked dri off the rocks and put her hands together. He tied them tightly with the ropes, but luckily it didn't hurt her as bad as it would have because of the bandages that were already on her wrists.  
  
Then he slapped her again and pushed her to the ground. He grabbed her ankles roughly causing her to cry out. Sprained ankles were not meant to be handled that way.  
  
Andrew grabbed some more rope and tied her ankles as tightly as her wrists. She did feel it on the ankles, especially since her left one was swollen. The ropes were digging into her skin and it was excruciating.  
  
Andrew leaned down and looked her in the eyes. "Maybe when McDaniels is through with you, he'll let me have a turn." He raised his hand to hit her again.  
  
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Connor said from the cave entrance.  
  
TBC..Please Review!! 


	16. No More Killing

AN: Thanks for the reviews. I hope that you guys like the next part!!!  
  
Andrews hand hung in mid air. Dri looked back forth between him and Connor. Jason was standing in the middle distance between the two. She didn't know what was going to happen, but she hoped Connor would get them out of this mess.  
  
"I'll only say it once more," Connor said. "If you strike her again I will kill you."  
  
"Provided I don't kill you first," Even as Jason said it Andrew was lowering his hand.  
  
Connor turned his attention to Jason.  
  
"This is between you and I. Let the girl go."  
  
McDaniels pulled his sword and gazed upon it with admiration.  
  
"It is a thing of beauty, is it not?" McDaniels said looking it over. "Honestly Highlander I don't just discard things of such beauty and Audrina. Audrina is exquisite."  
  
Connor slowly drew his sword.  
  
"But I'll make you a deal old friend," He continued turning his attention towards the highlander. "If you kill me, you can have the girl."  
  
"How nice of you Jason. Honestly, I don't think that will be a problem."  
  
Connor charged towards the other immortal, blade raised high. The swords connected sending sparks everywhere.  
  
Jason pushed Connor back and swung for his belly, but the Highlander quickly blocked it. Connor then came around Jason so that he was standing behind him and swung down. McDaniels brought his sword behind his back to block.  
  
He turned around and sent a deliberate blow to Connor's neck. Instead of stepping back, Connor stepped into the swing, blocking Jason's sword hand by grabbing his forearm and bringing down his own sword. Connor cried out as he severed McDaniels head from his body.  
  
Dri turned away. She knew it had to be done. Hell she had wanted it done. She wanted Jason dead. After everything he had put her through, he deserved it. She hadn't even seen Duncan kill Alec. She wasn't ready to see it then and she hadn't been ready to see it now.  
  
Connor stood there arms stretched out. His sword still an extension of his right arm. Dri turned to watch as the essence left McDaniels body and entered Connors. She listened to Connors cries as lightning crashed through and around his body. She felt the wind blow against her face and had to put a hand up to keep dust from blowing in her eyes. She kept her eyes on Connor as he, while still screaming, fell to his knees.  
  
Finally after what had seemed forever to Dri, it stopped. The wind died down and there was no more lightning. It was eerily silent without the screams that came from Connors throat. There was only the Highlander who was still holding his sword.  
  
Dri stared in awe as Connor sat there and regained his composure. It was her first time seeing a quickening. It was scary and at the same time wondrous. It was something she prayed to never see again and at the same time hoped wouldn't be the last time she did. She was so confused right now that she didn't know what she thought.  
  
Dri suddenly felt the cold steel from the barrel of a gun against the left temple of her head. She had almost forgotten that anyone else was in the room. She knew who it was. There was only one person it could be. Andrew.  
  
Her eyes widened in fear. She was still tied up. There wasn't much she could do to stop him. Especially in the state that she was in. Even if she was untied he'd probably be able to get the best of her.  
  
"Stay back!" He yelled. "If you come near me, I will kill her!"  
  
His voice was frantic, on the verge of hysterics.  
  
Connor stood up slowly. He smoothed his hair back and turned to face Andrew.  
  
"No you won't. If you let her go right now you'll walk out of here alive, but I keep my word from before. If you harm her, you will have signed your own death sentence."  
  
Dri felt the gun start to shake against her head. She swallowed the lump that was in the back of her throat. There had to be a way out of this.  
  
Andrew seemed to have found his nerve after a moment because he pushed the barrel harder against her head causing Dri to wince. She knew it would be another bruise to add to the collection.  
  
"You'll kill me either way," He told Connor. "At least this way I can take her with me."  
  
Dri took a deep breath. There was a way out of any situation. She had learned that with Alec. She closed her eyes and a moment later she opened them. She had one chance and she knew it.  
  
She looked up at Connor with the hope that he would understand. He must have because he gave a nod barely noticeable unless you were looking for it. Dri was looking for it.  
  
She quickly lifted her arms and brought her elbow hard into Andrews gut. She felt a searing pain shoot through her side, but she also felt Andrew lose his grip on the gun and fall back. She took that to her advantage and rolled out of the way.  
  
It was enough advantage for Connor to cross the few steps and kick the gun out of Andrews hand. It landed fairly close to Dri.  
  
Connor looked down at the watcher. "You had your chance to walk away boy. Now you can die here."  
  
"NO!" Dri cried as Connor raised his sword. "Please Connor no! No more killing. No more death. Not here. Not today."  
  
Connor put his sword back in its sheath. Then he knelt down so that he could look Andrew in the eye.  
  
"You should thank the lass. She is the only reason I'm letting you live." He whispered. "I suggest you take this chance to leave."  
  
He went to get up and stopped.  
  
"You will not like it if we cross paths again young Andrew. I suggest you make sure that we don't."  
  
With that said he got up and walked over to Dri. He knelt beside her and pushed her hair out of her face.  
  
"Are you all right?" He asked as he started to untie her wrists.  
  
"Untie the ankles first," She told him.  
  
Connor nodded and did as she asked.  
  
"You didn't answer my question." Connor said.  
  
"I'll live." She replied. "It could have been worse if you didn't show up."  
  
She winced as the ropes came off her ankles.  
  
"What were you doing here anyways?" He asked going for her wrists.  
  
Dri was about to answer when the tip of McDaniels sword came through Connors chest. She watched in horror as his body fell into a lifeless heap in front of her.  
  
Andrew was standing behind him smiling. He made direct eye contact with Dri as he pulled the sword out of Connor. Blood was dripping off the blade.  
  
"Looks like I get the pleasure of taking you after all. In more ways than one."  
  
He started walking towards her, sword still in hand. He took off his jacket, one sleeve at a time, making sure not to let go of the sword. Dri started scooting back. As she did so her hand came upon the gun that Andrew had held to her head. She gripped it tightly in her right hand.  
  
Andrew put the tip of the sword to her throat. "One thing McDaniels was right about. You are beautiful."  
  
He kneeled down on top of Dri. Pinning her legs to the ground.  
  
"What are you going to do?" She asked.  
  
"Finish what McDaniels started."  
  
He removed the sword from her throat and leaned in to kiss her. Dri took the opportunity to put the gun in front of her. She held it with two hands to his chest.  
  
"Come any closer with your face or anything else and I will kill you."  
  
Andrew smiled. "Oh I doubt that."  
  
He pressed his chest into the gun.  
  
"If you're going to shoot me do it. Do it now."  
  
Dri held the gun to his chest, but didn't fire. Her hands were shaking and her heart was racing. She didn't want to kill him if she didn't have to.  
  
She shook her head. "Don't make me do this."  
  
Andrew laughed at the evident fear in her voice. "I knew you wouldn't do it."  
  
He didn't remove the gun. Instead he leaned over it to kiss her again. One shot rang out from the gun. The look of shock on Andrews face said everything.  
  
"I guess I was wrong."  
  
He lifted his hand to her face just as his body collapsed on hers.  
  
TBC~~ Please Review!!! 


	17. Not Soon Enough

AN: This is a short chapter. I hope you guys like it anyways.  
  
Dri screamed in pain and horror from the dead body lying on top of her. She tried to squirm out from under him, but it was harder than it looked. Her body was bruised and sore. Moving between the dirt and his body hurt like hell.  
  
Dri screamed again before the body was pushed off of her.  
  
"Dri," Mac said kneeling next to her.  
  
She went to sit up, but cried out from the pain in her ribs. Adrenaline dulled pain. Hers was wearing off and she wished that it wasn't.  
  
"Take it easy," Duncan told her putting a hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Help me sit up." She told him.  
  
"All right, but take it easy."  
  
Mac put a hand behind her back and eased her up. She cringed a little and leaned against him. He put his arms around her in a gentle embrace.  
  
She looked around and noticed that Richie was on the other side of her and Joe was leaning down next to Andrew. Her gaze stayed on Andrew. She had killed him. She hadn't wanted to, but she did. She'd never taken anyones life before. Sure she had been at fault for her father and for Adrian, but she had never actually killed someone.  
  
"It's all right Dri."  
  
"I killed him," She whispered.  
  
Mac and Richie exchanged a glance.  
  
"It's okay sweet heart."  
  
"I didn't want to." She continued.  
  
"Shh, it's going to be all right," He told her stroking her hair.  
  
Connor took that moment to revive. He sat up taking a deep breath and grabbing his stomach where the knife wound had been. Just because he was immortal doesn't mean it didn't hurt.  
  
He took in the scene around him. It wasn't a pretty one. It made him wonder what he had missed while he was out.  
  
"Who was he?" Duncan asked Joe who was still leaning next to the dead watcher.  
  
Joe sighed. "His name was Andrew Banks. He was McDaniels watcher."  
  
"You know, Joe," Richie said. "You seem to have a less amount of watchers everyday and a larger amount of interferers and bad guys."  
  
"Tell me about it," Joe replied sarcastically. "Get the girl out of here. I'll clean up the mess."  
  
Duncan lifted Dri into his arms and stood up. Connor was already back on his feet walking over to them.  
  
"When did you get here?" He asked Duncan.  
  
"Not soon enough," The younger clansman replied.  
  
"What happened while I was out?"  
  
Duncan looked down at Dri who was leaning against his chest.  
  
"I'll tell you later. Right now I just want to get her out of here."  
  
"I'll drive," Richie stated as they headed for the car.  
  
That was fine with Duncan. He didn't want to let Dri go. She was already beginning to shake in his arms. She was going into shock. They needed to get back to Joe's as soon as possible.  
  
TBC~~ 


	18. A Fathers Wisdom

AN: Thanks for the reviews everyone!!! Here's the next part.  
  
When they arrived at Joes, Mac took Dri directly into the bedroom. A worried Richie and a..well Connor, followed behind them.  
  
Dri's face was ghostly white, which compared to her natural olive skin made her look sickly pale. She hadn't said a word since they had left the cave at the fair grounds. Needless to say the three men were a wee bit worried.  
  
Duncan put Dri on the bed and went into the bathroom to get some wash cloths and bandages. He didn't really want to leave her side, but he needed to clean her up. Besides Richie and Connor were there if anything happened in the two minutes he was away from her.  
  
Richie kneeled next to Dri who was looking at the large blood stain on her shirt.  
  
"Dri, talk to me."  
  
He brought a hand up to caress her cheek, but she quickly slapped it out of the way. Then she pulled her shirt off and threw it as far away as she could. It hurt to do it, but she didn't want his blood touching her. She didn't want it even remotely near her. She didn't care that she was now only sitting in her bra and pants.  
  
Richie gasped when he saw the bruises that covered her side.  
  
"Don't act so surprised," Dri said dryly. "It's not like you haven't seen me in a bra before."  
  
"Dri.I mean.I didn't know it was that bad."  
  
The young girl followed Richie's gaze to her side.  
  
"Oh, I think that's from when Jason threw me through the table." She replied nonchalantly.  
  
Anger welled up inside of Richie. If McDaniels wasn't already dead he'd kill the bastard himself. Dri had been through enough without this bastard hurting her as well.  
  
Connor on the other hand remained calm. He didn't like what he saw any better than Richie. In all actuality it made him ill to see the bruises, as well as the scars from before on her body, but both McDaniels and Alec were dead. Now they needed to concentrate on what they could do for Dri. Not what they could do with their anger.  
  
Duncan walked back into the room with a basin, some clean cloths, bandages, and antisceptic. He set everything on the bedside table and turned to Dri. He kneeled down so that he was eye level with her.  
  
"How are you feeling?"  
  
She shrugged and regretted it. Her whole body hurt. She felt every muscle it took to raise her shoulders and not in a good way. In fact it was in a very bad, very painful way.  
  
"I'll live," she replied.  
  
Duncan chorused her as she said it. "Yes, I know you'll live, but how are you feeling?"  
  
"Sore and tired." She stated simply.  
  
"Your colors getting better," He said as he got up and sat on the side of the bed.  
  
Mac picked up a cloth and dipped it in the basin. Then he brought it to her face, but Dri pulled back flinching as she did.  
  
"Dri I've got to clean the wounds."  
  
She didn't respond.  
  
Mac sighed. "Look it's either this or the hospital. It's your choice."  
  
She glared at the Highlander. "Fine, but I don't everyone in here for this. If you don't mind I've been humiliated enough today."  
  
Richie nodded and stood up. "That's cool. I'll catch Connor up to speed on everything that happened while he was out."  
  
It was evident to Dri she had hurt him again. She didn't mean to, yet she always seemed to do it. She always seemed to hurt the ones she cared about. Although she wondered why she hadn't seemed to hurt Duncan yet. Oh well it was only a matter of time.  
  
She didn't look at Richie when he and Connor walked out. She kept her eyes fixed on the bedspread. She didn't want to see the pain in his eyes or on his face.  
  
Dri was so worried about Richie that she forgot to put her own shields up. Duncan did see the pain in her eyes and her face.  
  
"He does understand you know," Mac said pulling her out of her thoughts.  
  
He wasn't really sure if Richie did understand but it was better to let Dri think he did. She tried to look angry but couldn't. There was too much physical and emotional pain.  
  
Dri started to shrug, but stopped herself. Mac started cleaning her face, wiping away all the blood. It revealed a few cuts and more bruises.  
  
"You know," She began looking across the room. "When Alec made me 'kill him' I thought I had done something wrong and was actually relieved when the bastard came back to life. After everything he had done to me I was actually thankful that I hadn't killed him."  
  
She winced when Mac brought the cloth to a small cut above her eyebrow that she hadn't even known was there. Duncan didn't say anything. He was surprised she was saying this much. He was scared that if he said anything she'd stop. He removed the cloth as she turned her head to look at him.  
  
"But Andrew's not coming back," She continued. "I ended his life."  
  
Mac sighed. "You know the first man I ever killed wasn't in battle."  
  
"It wasn't?"  
  
Duncan shook his head. "No, a drifter came through the village one night. I was only a boy taking care of my mother. I couldn't have been more than ten. My father was off fighting in a war. The drifter targeted my home because he thought no one would stop him from trying to rape my mother."  
  
"But you stopped him right?"  
  
"Aye, by driving a sword into his back. I knew he deserved it, but I didn't feel any better about it."  
  
He started taking the bandages of her wrists and cleaning them with antiseptic. Dri wasn't flinching as much. She was listening to the story so intensely it was taking her mind of the pain.  
  
"So what happened?"  
  
Mac shrugged. "I was guilt ridden. I'd practically gone without eating anything until my father returned. My mother of course told him what happened."  
  
"Was he proud of you?"  
  
Duncan had finished cleaning the wounds and was re-bandaging them.  
  
"Very, but he knew I was upset about it. You want to know what he said to me?"  
  
Dri nodded slowly. Anything faster hurt.  
  
Mac stopped what he was doing and looked her in the eyes.  
  
"He said, Duncan there is a time for everything. There's a time to laugh, a time to weep, a time to celebrate and a time to mourn, but above everything there is a time to kill."  
  
Dri started to turn away, but Duncan gently forced her to look at him.  
  
"When Andrew attacked you he left you no choice and it became your time to kill. You killed to protect yourself. There's no shame in that."  
  
Her lip was quivering and she was shaking. Unshed tears were lingering in her emerald eyes.  
  
"I didn't want to kill him," She whispered. "I even asked Connor not to, but then he put the sword through Connor and."  
  
"I know sweetheart," Mac said cutting her off. "I know. It wasn't your fault."  
  
The first tear slid down her cheek. Mac used his thumb to wipe it away. He readjusted himself so that he was sitting next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Dri leaned her head on his shoulder.  
  
"Did you believe what your father told you? Did it make you feel better?" She asked.  
  
"Not at first, but over time I realized he was right. I realized that I couldn't stop living my life because I ended his."  
  
Dri sniffled.  
  
"I know its hard now. Killing is never easy, but you'll realize just as I did that it wasn't your fault."  
  
Dri pulled away from him. "I'm cold."  
  
"I'll get you something of Joe's to put on for now."  
  
He got up and walked over to the closet.  
  
"Duncan?"  
  
He turned around to look at her.  
  
"Do you really think Richie understand?"  
  
He smiled. "Yeah, I really think he does."  
  
"Do you think he would mind if I talked to him?"  
  
Duncan couldn't help noticing how much she looked like a little girl.  
  
"I don't think he'd mind that at all."  
  
TBC..Please Review!! 


	19. Whether she likes it or not

AN: Okay guys here's the last part. Christine I hope that leaving you speechless was a good thing ha ha! Thanks so much to everyone who supported this story. Please review!  
  
Richie walked into the bedroom, softly shutting the door behind him. Dri was sitting up in bed now dressed in an over sized black t-shirt. She was propped up by pillows and her legs were covered with the comforter. Se tried to sit up a little more, but an agonizing pain shot through her ribs causing her to moan and favor her side. Richie was there in less than a second.  
  
"I'm fine," She said before he could even ask.  
  
Truthfully she wasn't fine. As of ten minutes ago the adrenaline was completely gone and it hurt to do the simplest things. That included breathing. Stupid cracked ribs.  
  
Richie hadn't touched her. He didn't know how she'd react so instead he stood next to the bed with his arms crossed over his chest. It was his typical tough guy stance.  
  
"Mac said you wanted to talk to me," He said with no hint of emotion in his voice.  
  
Once the pain passed she looked up at Richie. Suddenly she couldn't do anything but laugh. She grabbed her side as pain shot through it yet again. Even though it hurt like hell she couldn't do anything but laugh.  
  
"What's so funny?" Richie asked.  
  
"Did anyone ever tell you that you look like a wannabe gangster?" She asked between bouts of laughter.  
  
"Look if you wanted to bring me in here just to laugh at me I can leave."  
  
"No!" She cried as he turned towards the door. "I'm sorry Richie. I really wanted to talk to you about something."  
  
He turned back towards her, but didn't say anything.  
  
"I wanted to say I'm sorry," Dri told him in complete seriousness. "I know I've been a complete bitch and I know I've hurt you."  
  
Richie sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed. "You haven't hurt me. I just don't understand why you can't talk to me or why you don't want me around."  
  
"I have hurt you and I owe you an explanation for it. Even if it is a lame one."  
  
"Dri you don't have to.."  
  
"Yes," She said cutting him off. "I do. Look I know I've been pushing you away, Richie and I'm sorry. I really am it's just that you.you remind me so much of Adrian sometimes that it hurts to even be around you. I miss Adrian so much and I know that it's my fault he's gone. I just don't want to hurt you too!"  
  
Dri looked into his eyes. She saw pain there. She had caused it but not in the way she was thinking. Richie was upset because of the way she thought. She seemed to think that everything was her fault. That everyone she loved got hurt because of her.  
  
"I was scared to let myself get close to you," She continued. "I was scared that I'd somehow hurt you like I hurt Adrian."  
  
"Dri, I'm not Adrian," He said in a gentle voice. "I'm Richie Ryan and you're not going to hurt me."  
  
"How do you know?" Dri cried. "Look at my father! Look at Adrian! They are both dead because of me!"  
  
"Is that what you think?" Richie asked truly in shocked.  
  
Dri looked away and nodded.  
  
"Dri it wasn't your fault. You couldn't have prevented what happened to your father. It was an accident."  
  
"What about Adrian?" She asked looking at him again. "That was my fault!"  
  
"No, it wasn't. Even if you had been there Alec still would have killed him. You couldn't have stopped that either."  
  
"Even if I couldn't it hurts to remember Richie. As much as I." She trailed off.  
  
"What were you going to say?"  
  
She sighed. "I just don't want to hurt you," She whispered.  
  
Richie took her hand in his. His blue eyes met her green. "I care about you Dri. I love you like a little sister. The only way you could ever hurt me is by pushing me away. Please don't do that."  
  
She suddenly smiled slyly. "Only on one condition."  
  
Richie raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"  
  
"Stay with me until I fall asleep?"  
  
Richie smiled back at her. "You got it beautiful."  
  
Dri leaned back against her pillows and closed her eyes. Richie continued holding her hand until he watched her breathing even out and knew she was asleep. Even then he stayed with her. He didn't want to wake up alone. As of now he wasn't going to let her push him away anymore. He would always be there whether she wanted him to be or not.  
  
END~~Please Review 


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